The Manhattan hotel occupancy rate rose in March this year compared with the same month last year even as supply increased, preliminary figures from hotel advisory firm PKF Consulting show.

The occupancy rate in Manhattan rose to an anticipated rate of 80 percent in March 2010 from 72 percent in March 2009, just below the 10-year average of 82 percent for the month, the company said.

The figures provide “some signs [the] bottom has been reached,” John Fox, senior vice president at PKF Consulting, said in an e-mail. “But [it is] too early to feel comfortable as last March was the overall biggest revenue decrease month since [the] 9/11 aftermath.” [more]

Vijay Dandapani of Apple Core Hotels and Will Obeid of Gemini Real Estate Advisors at real estate panel yesterday

The bloodletting for Manhattan hotel operators did not end with 2009, preliminary figures covering January from industry analysis firm PKF Consulting reveal.

The average daily room rate fell in January by 8.8 percent compared with the same month last year to $192.96 per room, and the revenue per available room, or revpar, dipped by 3.6 percent to $125.71, data from PKF shows.

But on a bright note, the figures indicate that occupancy rates rose, to 65.1 percent last month from 61.6 percent in January 2009.

For all of 2009, revpar plunged by 25.8 percent from $264 per room to $196 per room, the PKF figures indicate.

At a panel on hospitality at the New York Real Estate Summit yesterday in Midtown, hotel executive Vijay Dandapani, president and COO of Apple Core Hotels, noted the year began poorly.

“We have seen a further depression in January,” he said. “I personally think 2010 will be flat.” [more]