Page 3 - Upper Midscale News Today

The U.S. hotel industry saw a slow start to the week as the final day of the Rosh Hashanah observance held back travel. However, overall occupancy for the week rose to 68.5% from 67.7% in the week prior. As compared to last year, occupancy was down 1.1 percentage points (ppts) due to a Rosh Hashanah calendar shift, with the observance occurring in the week ending 1 October last year.

U.S. hotel occupancy (67.7%) was both helped and hindered by calendar shifts. Occupancy showed a significant week-over-week increase, up 7.4 percentage points (ppts) from the period that included the Labor Day holiday. At the same time, occupancy was down 1.5 ppts compared to the same week last year due to the shift of the Rosh Hashanah observance, which occurred over the weekend on 15-17 September.

Article - Global Hotel Occupancy Still Surpassing Last Years Levels - Weekly Global Hotel Performance Trends from STR: 10 – 16 September 2023

Entering the first days of September, U.S. hotel occupancy (62.7%) was nearly identical to the same week last year (62.6%) and in line with our expectations. The measure was 3.7 percentage points (ppts) lower than the 2019 comparable, but the difference between the two was less than the previous four weeks, when the differential averaged 5.2ppts.

Heading into the final days of August, U.S. hotel occupancy (65%) was lower for a fifth consecutive week, which is in line with normal seasonal patterns. The measure was up 0.3 percentage points (ppts) from a year ago but 4.9ppts lower than the 2019 comparable—similar to the previous four weeks. Occupancy is still expected to trend down for the next two weeks and then grow as group/conference travel climbs to its annual peak.

Article - Weekly Global Hotel Performance Trends from STR: 20-26 August 2023 - Global occupancy (excluding the U.S.) softened for the second consecutive week to 71.3% as the measure fell 1.1ppts week over week. However, global occupancy continued to see year-over-year growth (+5.5ppts). ADR increased 12% to US$149, resulting in a 21.3% gain in RevPAR to US$106.

With almost two-thirds of U.S. K-12 students back in school, hotel occupancy followed normal seasonal patterns and trended down for a fourth consecutive week. The industry lost 1.3 percentage points (ppts) from the prior week, and at 67.0%, was unchanged from a year ago but down 2.9 ppts from the same week in 2019.

The pandemic and hybrid work arrangements have generated strong demand for longer hotel stays, increasing the popularity of cost-effective extended-stay hotels and making them one of the fastest growing segments in hospitality. With higher margins and lower development costs than full-service hotels, extended-stay properties have the potential to generate higher returns on investment. As a result, banks are more likely to provide funding for what are perceived to be lower-volatility, higher-retu...

What are the best hotels in America? J.D. Power ranks the top hotels and reveals the big trends in an annual study.

Article - Extended-Stay Hotels Continue to Gain in Popularity - By Jack Levy - The pandemic and hybrid work arrangements have generated strong demand for longer hotel stays, increasing the popularity of cost-effective extended-stay hotels and making them one of the fastest growing segments in hospitality.