The hotel industry’s nightmare continued last week as occupancy nationwide dipped to a meager 21 percent.
The country’s occupancy rate for the week ending April 11 was one point worse than a week ago and 70 percent lower than a year ago, according to the hospitality data firm STR. Revenues per available room, or RevPAR, declined nearly 84 percent from the same time last year to $15.61.
If there were any bright side to the news, it was that the nadir may have been reached.
“There was not much of a change from last week. As we’ve noted, RevPAR declines of this severity are our temporary new normal,” STR senior vice president Jan Freitag said. “Several weeks of data also point to occupancy in the 20% range to be the low point, and economy hotels holding at a higher occupancy level is the pattern right now.”
In New York, last week’s occupancy rate of 24.8 percent was actually higher than the previous week’s of 18.3 percent, which STR said was likely attributable to an influx of first responders and medical workers. Still, it was nearly 72 percent worse than it was in the same week a year ago.
Read more
Commercial
New York
Trump International Hotel lays off 70 employees
Commercial
New York
Hotel occupancy rate across US drops to 22%
Commercial
New York
US hotels report plunging occupancy rate on coronavirus fears
Revenue per available room in New York was $31.67 last week, a decline of nearly 77 percent from $136 at the beginning of March.
Hotel owners are already seeking assistance on their mortgages as travel and tourism in the country have ground to a virtual halt.
In Los Angeles, occupancy dropped more than 74 percent to a rate of a little more than 21 percent, and RevPAR declined about 85 percent to $22.78.
Chicago saw occupancy decline about 78 percent to a rate of nearly 18 percent, and RevPAR fell 90 percent to $12.78.
Miami had an occupancy rate of roughly 20 percent – a drop of nearly 76 percent from the same time a year earlier. RevPAR declined about 90 percent to $18.02.
Contact Rich Bockmann at rb@therealdeal.com or 908-415-5229