U.S. Hotels Post Performance Gains Christmas Week

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Increased consumer spending was good for the U.S. hotel sector during Christmas week.

According to STR, the U.S. hotel industry experienced increases in all three key performance metrics during the week ending December 24, 2011.

In year-over-year comparisons for the week, occupancy rose 8.1 percent to 37.3 percent, average daily rate increased 2.7 percent to US$89.48 and revenue per available room finished the week with an increase of 11.0 percent to US$33.39.

Among the Top 25 Markets, Houston, Texas, reported the largest occupancy increase, up 16.9 percent to 36.6 percent, followed by Dallas, Texas (+15.2 percent to 34.2 percent), San Francisco/San Mateo, California (+14.6 percent to 51.0 percent), and Washington, D.C. (+14.6 percent to 31.4 percent). Phoenix, Arizona, fell 4.3 percent in occupancy to 35.0 percent, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.

Two markets experienced double-digit ADR increases: Denver, Colorado (+10.2 percent to US$72.53), and San Francisco/San Mateo (+10.2 percent to US$116.33). New York, New York, posted the largest ADR decrease, falling 3.3 percent to US$204.14.

Five markets achieved RevPAR increases of more than 20 percent: San Francisco/San Mateo (+26.3 percent to US$59.30); Denver (+25.4 percent to US$26.55); Houston (+24.4 percent to US$26.26); Dallas (+22.6 percent to US$22.11); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-New Jersey (+21.2 percent to US$32.21). Phoenix reported the only RevPAR decrease, falling 1.6 percent to US$27.50.