I'm sure you'll lean towards a General Contractor if you go out of state.  

So I will be leaning heavily on design to create a unique experience that can not be had at any hotel.

Yes, Don, of course taxes are taxes, and they are as unavoidable as death and dumb real estate policy decisions by our local socialist-leaning government. 

Realize they will come in an increase prices but the deal went real lean in returns.  

Depending on the current market conditions, I can lean more or less to any given quadrant and I'm not being held hostage by high interest rates, which, in a historical perspective, aren't actually that high.

@Louis Fernandes I would always recommend to lean on other investors that are in your market. 

I am leaning towards liquidating so I can go into other ventures.

This request adds a great attraction for your STR but could potentially put your property in a flood plane depending on how close you are to that specific body of water.

Usually they'll lean on building a lot of low quality backlinks very quickly which often gives a boost in rankings quickly... but then results suffer later. 

I would look at both areas everyday on realtor or redfin, check out the houses run numbers on them, and over time you will start leaning more towards an area while also zeroing in on what youre looking to buy.