Hotel occupancy, room rates in Miami and the US see pre-holiday dip: STR

On the eve of the holidays, hotel occupancy and room rates dropped on a year-over-year basis in Miami and in the United States, according to a new report from STR. 

For the week of Dec. 18-24, the Miami/Hialeah market reported a 22.4 percent drop in average daily room rate to $178.88, the biggest decrease in the country. Orlando followed with an 11.5 percent decline to $106.40 and New Orleans by 10.4 percent to $101.54, according to the report. The Miami market also reported the fifth biggest decline in occupancy last week, down 11.2 percent to 62 percent occupancy.

Across the U.S., the hotel industry reported a 1.2 percent decrease in occupancy to 42.2 percent, and a 3 percent decline in average room rate to about $106 a night. That led revenue per available room to tumble by 4.2 percent to $44.76, STR said.

On the other end of the spectrum, Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia outperformed all markets last week. Occupancy rose by nearly 9 percent to 37.6 percent, average room rates also were up nearly 9 percent to about $100, and revenue per room was up 18.6 percent to $37.72. Denver, Detroit and Dallas also saw gains.

Despite declines in rates and occupancies, hotel properties were hot tickets in South Florida’s commercial real estate market this year. The Real Deal compiled the five biggest hotel deals in the tri-county area, ranging from the $229.4 million sale of the Confidante (formerly the Thompson Hotel) to the $63 million deal of the Sagamore Hotel. – Katherine Kallergis