HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—The U.S. luxury segment reported the largest increases in all three key hotel performance metrics for May 2010 compared to the same period last year, according to data from STR.
The segment’s occupancy rose 10.9 percent to 67.7 percent, average daily rate was up 2.6 percent to US$241.22, and revenue per available room jumped 13.8 percent to US$163.39.
Overall, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy was up 7.1 percent to 58.9 percent, ADR ended the month flat at US$97.50, and RevPAR increased 7.1 percent to finish at US$57.47.
“May was another strong performance month for the U.S.hotel industry as the demand for hotel rooms far exceeded May of last year, driving occupancies,” said Mark Lomanno, president at STR. “In addition, May was the first month in almost two years that ADR was not lower than the same month of the preceding year, as it was flat for the month. Going into the summer, we expect industry performance to improve dramatically as we finally will begin to see increases in room rates.”
Excluding the luxury segment, the upscale segment reported the only double-digit occupancy increase, rising 10.4 percent to 67.8 percent, followed by the upper-upscale segment with a 9.7-percent increase to 70.2 percent.
Three segments, other than the luxury segment, reported RevPAR increases of more than 5 percent: the upper upscale segment (+9.6 percent to US$100.04); the upscale segment (+9.6 percent to US$72.40); and the independent segment (+6.2 percent to US$52.13).
Among the top 25 markets, Nashville, Tennessee, reported the largest occupancy increase, rising 24.8 percent to 67.8 percent following April floods. Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia, ended the month virtually flat with a 0.4-percent occupancy decrease to 56.2 percent.
New Orleans, Louisiana, experienced the largest ADR increase, rising 16.7 percent to US$129.89, followed by New York, New York, with a 15.0-percent increase to US$231.38. Five markets posted ADR decreases of more than 5 percent: Orlando, Florida (-11.1 percent to US$88.39); Nashville (-8.8 percent to US$82.85); Seattle, Washington (-8.5 percent to US$107.92); San Diego, California (-6.5 percent to US$117.83); and Chicago (-5.2 percent to US$113.77).
New Orleans increased 41.2 percent in RevPAR to US$89.10, reporting the largest increase in that metric. Four other markets experienced RevPAR increases of more than 15 percent: New York (+26.9 percent to US$202.43); Denver, Colorado (+18.8 percent to US$62.36); Dallas, Texas (+17.4 percent to US$47.76); and Boston (+15.1 percent to US$116.09).
Source: STR
