Overall, in year-over-year comparisons for the week, occupancy rose 4.5% to 62.8%, average daily rate increased 3.2% to US$99.79, and revenue per available room finished the week up 7.8% to US$62.63.
Among the top 25 markets, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida (+24.3% to 59.7%), and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota-Wisconsin (+13.3% to 82.1%), achieved the largest occupancy increases for the week. Washington, D.C., fell 12.5% to 64.3%, reporting the largest decrease in that metric, followed by Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia, with an 8.2% decrease to 58.8%.
Nashville rose 16.6% in ADR to US$95.91, reporting the largest increase in that metric, followed by San Francisco/San Mateo, California, with a 16.1% increase to US$151.16. Washington, D.C. (-3.3% to US$124.08), and Norfolk-Virginia Beach (-2.9% to US$95.59), reported the largest ADR decreases for the week.
Among the chain-scale segments, the upper-midscale segment (+5.9% to 64.7%) and the upscale segment (+5.5% to 71.3%) reported the largest occupancy increases for the week.
“Austin consistently ranks among the strongest cities in our country for employment and job growth, and due to the fair cost of living and quality of life offered, we expect that to continue for the foreseeable future,” said Deno Yiankes, president and CEO of investments and development at White Lodging, which will break ground on a 1,003-room Marriott Marquis next year.
Even without the Formula 1 event, Austin hotels seem to performing rather well. In July, occupancy was 67.6%, up 1.7% from last year; average daily rate was US$98.98, up 4.6% from last year; and revenue per available room was US$66.87, up 6.4% from last year, according to STR.
Default Ad Will Appear Here
In a high-tempered management contract dispute, Marriott International has issued a statement in response to bankruptcy filings by M Waikiki, owners of the former Waikiki Edition, that will prevent Marriott from reinstalling management.
Marriott in the statement calls the move a "self-defeating step that ultimately involves the destruction of significant value of the owner’s asset."
Ed Ryan, Marriott's executive VP and general counsel, said: “While we are astonished at such a self-destructive course of action, we of course respect the law and the fact that a bankruptcy filing freezes any other legal orders for the time being. It is clear that this was a desperate step by the owner and legal advisors to circumvent the New York court’s order returning the hotel to our rightful management and control. They will obviously stop at nothing in the effort to escape from the contractual obligations they made to us when they signed the management agreement.”
Meantime, in a stalled-transaction lawsuit, Innkeepers USA Trust has responded to statements made by Cerberus Capital Management LP that “adverse market conditions” led them to back away from a deal for 64 Innkeepers hotels.
Innkeepers’ statement reads: “The binding commitment letter contains no ‘market’ material adverse event clause. As was stated in the complaint, Cerberus’ and Chatham (Lodging Trust’s) purported termination is nothing more than a calculated effort to apply leverage upon the debtors and their constituents to renegotiate the terms of the parties’ binding contract. Regardless of their motives, one thing is clear: Cerberus and Chatham are not excused from their obligations under the plain terms of the binding commitment letter and term sheet.”
While this data is only slightly higher than overall market performance (which is up year over year) there are some clear winners this holiday weekend, TravelClick reported. They include: Charlotte, North Carolina (up 38.6%); San Antonio (up 23.1%); Miami (up 14.5%); San Diego (up 17.3%); Toronto (up 14.8%).
However, not all markets are experiencing the same type of growth. Some will not meet last year’s occupancy, TraveClick said. They include: St. Louis (down 16%); Detroit (down 11%); and Atlanta (down 7.8%).
Pursuing an aggressive growth strategy, the 11 new contracts include a combination of developer turn-key, office-to-leisure conversions and new build schemes. Premier Inn opened its 600th hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 2011.
Compiled by Jason Q. Freed.