U.S Hotel Sector Performing Well in April

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According to STR, the U.S. hotel industry in April reported increases in all three key performance metrics.

Overall, the U.S. hotel industry's occupancy rose 1.4 percent to 61.8 percent, its average daily rate was up 5.0 percent to US$105.71 and its revenue per available room increased 6.4 percent to US$65.34.

"Demand appeared to slow down - particularly leisure demand in the Midscale and Economy chain scales - and two less weekend days this April (comparable days from April 2011) contributed to the demand slow down," said Brad Garner, COO at STR. "Impressively, ADR growth for the month reached 5.0 percent for the first time since April of 2008. We fully anticipate meaningful ADR growth to be a consistent story line this summer and the remainder of the year."

Among the Top 25 Markets, Houston, Texas, rose 6.7 percent in occupancy to 68.0 percent, reporting the largest increase in that metric, followed by Chicago, Illinois (+6.1 percent to 66.3 percent), and Los Angeles-Long Beach, California (+6.1 percent to 75.2 percent). Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota-Wisconsin, posted the largest occupancy decrease, falling 4.7 percent to 60.7 percent.

Three markets experienced double-digit ADR increases: New Orleans, Louisiana (+11.6 percent to US$154); San Francisco/San Mateo, California (+11.3 percent to US$152.44); and Chicago (+10.1 percent to US$119.96). None of the top markets reported ADR decreases for the month.

Chicago jumped 16.8 percent in RevPAR to US$79.50, reporting the largest increase in that metric, followed by San Francisco/San Mateo (+14.4 percent to US$119.06) and Los Angeles-Long Beach (+13.5 percent to US$96.39). Atlanta, Georgia, ended the month virtually flat in RevPAR with a 0.9-percent decline to US$51.39, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.