Outlook continues to improve for U.S. hotels

The U.S. hotel industry posted improvements across the board last week, with all of the key metrics showing increases in year-over-year comparisons, according to the latest data from Smith Travel Research. Occupancy rose 4.7 percent to just under 50 percent, while average daily rates inched up by .5 percent to $96.87. Revenue per available room, or revpar, was up 5.3 percent, to $48.31. Orlando, Fla. led the way in improvements amongst individual hotel markets, posting the largest increases in occupancy (up 20 percent from last year at this time), average daily rate (up 11.3 percent) and revpar (up 33.5 percent). Among property types, economy hotels reported the largest occupancy increases, up 6.9 percent from last year to 44 percent nationwide. And while average daily room rates increased most in the luxury hotel segment, up 4.8 percent last week to $266.33, that segment also saw the only decline in occupancy, down 0.2 percent week-over-week. As The Real Deal’s Michael Stoler noted earlier this week, investors are once again taking an interest in the U.S. hotel market after steady improvements in recent months. TRD