Hollywood hotels flash signs of comeback

Foot traffic on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — a key measure of the neighborhood’s tourism sector and economic vibrancy — approached pre-pandemic levels at the end of 2021, according to a report published on Wednesday.

The fortune’s of hotels throughout the famous district followed the same path.

That much can be gleaned from the report by The Hollywood Partnership, a business improvement district made up of property owners in a given area who pay extra taxes to fund street maintenance, security and other programs to supplement regular service by public agencies. The group’s sleek, 29-page fourth quarter report, which featured the tagline “Always in Style,” included various neighborhood promotional highlights as well as local data.

“In the last quarter of the year, Hollywood’s hospitality sector thrived,” Drew Planting, the group’s board chair, said in a release, citing various hotel openings and the recent return of international travelers. Planting acknowledged that “2021 was a challenging year for everyone” even with the strong showing for hotels and other hospitality-related businesses, but said “Hollywood’s fundamental appeal remains strong.”

That appeal translated into foot traffic on the neighborhood’s most famous corridor — the Walk of Fame — that reached 79 percent of the level measured in the fourth quarter of 2019, shortly before the pandemic took hold. The 79 percent figure was measured during the last week of 2021, the report said — the runup to New Year’s Eve, which typically ranks among the year’s most important for local business, and where foot traffic would typically be relatively high.

The report also measured hotel revenue per available room per day –or RevPar – which paralleled the upshot in pedestrian traffic. RevPar for Hollywood hotels reached $132 in the fourth quarter of 2021, a dollar below the prior quarter but more than triple the $44 notched for the same period a year prior, the report said. That figure was a dollar lower than the number for the previous quarter, however.

Hotel occupancy rates also shot up, from just 33 percent at the end of 2020 to 65 percent at the end of 2021. The report also counted 12 hotels in development throughout Hollywood, for a total of 1,641 rooms.

In recent months Hollywood has ranked among L.A.’s hottest neighborhoods for new construction overall. Slated projects include a 153-unit apartment complex at Sunset and Vine, a 30,000-square-foot office building and a $1 billion mixed-use development with studio space.

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