Page 14 - Upper Upscale News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (Sonesta), the 8th largest hotel company in the U.S., today announced the establishment of a Luxury & Lifestyle Lodging Development Team. The team will lead Sonesta's growth of its Upper Upscale brands, which include The James and The Royal Sonesta franchises in the Americas. Today's announcement underscores Sonesta's commitment to and growing leadership position within the burgeoning lifestyle and luxury sectors.

U.S. hotel industry occupancy bounced back in the week after the MLK holiday, reaching 56.3%. That level was up 6.8 percentage points (ppts) from a year ago and just 1.5ppts below the comparable week in 2019. Moreover, the week’s level was the eighth highest ever recorded for the last full week of January—the highest occupancy (58.4%) was posted in 2006. Even better, room demand was the second highest for the week and just 25,000 nights short of the record seen in 2020. Month to date through 28 January, occupancy was 53.1%, which was the eighth best of the past 24 years with the highest le...

As expected, U.S. hotel performance paused with the MLK holiday during the week ending 21 January 2023. Occupancy fell to 54.2% from 54.8% in the previous week but was up 5.6 percentage points (ppts) from a year ago. As compared to previous MLK holiday weeks, this year’s occupancy was in the middle of the pack, ranking 15th out of the 24 occurrences measured by STR. However, room demand was the third highest, behind 2020 and 2019. Occupancy levels for those two years were also the two highest ever recorded for the MLK holiday week.

In the first business week of 2023, U.S. hotel occupancy rose to 54.8%, up 6.3 percentage points (ppts) year over year (YoY) and favorable to the comparable week in 2019. Over the first 14 days of 2023, occupancy (51%) was higher than the same 14 days in 2019 (50.3%). Weekday (Monday-Wednesday) occupancy was slightly better (55%) than the weekly total with the Top 25 Markets seeing 60.4% weekday occupancy.

Here’s a taste of the hotel deal and development news that Daily Lodging Report summarized in the past week, as of Jan. 20, 2023.