Luxury Hotels Lead Jump in US Hotel Performance

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U.S. hotels posted strong numbers in August, led by high occupancy in the luxury sector, according to the latest data from STR.

Overall occupancy was up 2.3 percent to 69.2 percent from a year earlier, while the average daily rate was up 4.5 percent to $112.14, the firm reports. The revenue per available room (RevPar) increased 6.9 percent to $77.59.

"As summer waned, the U.S. hotel industry reported another strong month of RevPAR growth," said Jan Freitag, senior vice president of strategic development at STR. "Luxury hotel operators were especially able to capitalize on their high occupancies in August--77.1 percent--and increased ADR by 7.9 percent to $274.36."

Resorts also performed well. The average daily rate increased 6.3 percent in August and RevPar was up 10.3 percent.

The top 25 markets reported a RevPar increase of 7.7 percent, with an average daily rate of $131.62 compared to $102.37 for the rest of the U.S.

More from the report:

Among the Top 25 Markets, Nashville, Tennessee, achieved the largest occupancy increase, rising 11.0 percent to 71.3 percent. Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida, fell 4.5 percent in occupancy to 59.9 percent, posting the largest decrease in that metric.

Five markets experienced double-digit ADR increases: San Francisco/San Mateo, California (+13.9 percent to US$205.01); Oahu Island, Hawaii (+13.7 percent to US$224.02); Seattle, Washington (+11.2 percent to US$145.40); Miami-Hialeah, Florida (+10.6 percent to US$139.29); and Anaheim-Santa Ana, California (+10.0 percent to US$143.99). Tampa-St. Petersburg fell 20.9 percent in ADR to US$91.40, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.

Nashville increased 21.2 percent in RevPAR to US$72.47, achieving the largest increase in that metric, followed by San Francisco/San Mateo (+16.7 percent to US$190.13) and Seattle (+16.7 percent to US$134.59). Tampa-St. Petersburg experienced the largest RevPAR decrease, falling 24.5 percent to US$54.78.