U.S. hotel occupancy reaches four-week high

U.S. hotel occupancy reached a four-week high, according to STR's latest data. For the week of Sept. 12-18, occupancy reached 63 percent, down 11.6 percent from the comparable week in 2019 but up from 60 percent the previous week. Average daily rate was $131.04, down 2.6 percent from 2019 but up from $130.82 the week before, and revenue per available room was $82.50, down 13.9 percent from 2019 but up from $78.46 the previous week.
    
The gain in occupancy was helped by weekly group demand eclipsing 1 million for the first time since the earliest days of the pandemic. More group demand created a lowering effect on ADR because group rooms for upper-tier classes are typically priced lower than transient rooms.

Top Markets 

Among the top 25 markets, New Orleans recorded the largest 2021 versus 2019 gains in both occupancy (up 7.3 percent to 72.6 percent) and RevPAR (up 18.2 percent to S$114.37). Oahu Island, Hawaii, on the other hand, experienced the steepest decline in occupancy when compared with 2019, dropping 43.9 percent to 49.6 percent. 

Miami reported the largest ADR increase over 2019, improving 22.5 percent to $166.04. 

The largest RevPAR deficits were in San Francisco/San Mateo (down 65.5 percent to $91.23) and Washington, D.C., (down 53.1 percent to $69.87).