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U.S. EXTENDED-STAY HOTELS set new records for demand, ADR, RevPAR and room revenues in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to a report from hotel investment advisors The Highland Group. Also, the report showed rate resistance is apparent at lower price points due to recession and the economy extended-stay segment reported nine consecutive months of declining demand and three successive quarterly falls in occupancy. According to the Highland Group's "U.S. Extended-Stay Hotels: Fourth Quarter 2022" report, mid-price extended-stay hotels reported their second consecutive quarterly decline in occupancy in fourth quarter. Similar occupancy declines occurred for about two years starting in mid-2015 before ADR growth moderated and occupancy recovered. Extended-stay hotel supply growth was the lowest since 2013 during the quarter, below its long-term historical average for 20 consecutive quarters. The last time extended-stay supply growth was consistently near its current level was from 2010 fourth quarter through third quarter of 2014. "Extended-stay hotel RevPAR was more than 12 percent higher than in fourth quarter of 2019. There were 567,770 extended-stay hotel rooms open at the end of the quarter. Excluding 2020, the 6,481 net gain in rooms open over the last year was the lowest annual increase since 2012. Room nights available increased 1.2 percent over the last year which was the smallest annual gain in supply for nine years," the report said. "Fractional net economy and upscale segment supply gains compared to 2021 are largely due to re-branding moving rooms between segments in our database, de-flagging of hotels which no longer meet brand standards, as well as the sales of some hotels to multi-family apartment companies and municipalities."

BOUTIQUE HOTELS GENERATED more annual RevPAR than traditional hotels in the U.S. last year, according to a report from consulting agency The Highland Group. Hotels focused on experiential stay, exceptional design and amenities also attracted a rate premium, the report said. Boutique hotels are classified into independent boutique, lifestyle hotels and soft brand collections. The Boutique Hotel Report 2022 has said that upper midscale, upscale and luxury soft brand collections recovered strongly in 2021 in performance metrics against their US upscale counterparts, while the upper upscale class was ahead in rate recovery and lagged in occupancy. According to the report, lifestyle upper upscale and luxury hotels recovered at parity with their counterparts, while upper midscale and upscale lifestyle hotels reported slower recovery in both occupancy and average rate. "Upper midscale and upscale independent boutique hotels in urban locations recovered at a stronger pace than all U.S. hotel in urban locations in both performance metrics.

REVPAR FOR U.S extended-stay economy, mid-scale and upscale segments is recovering back to pre-pandemic levels, according to a report from consulting firm The Highland Group. Total extended-stay hotel occupancy is very close to the first quarter levels reported in 2016 and 2017 but below its peak years since 2015. "Overall, first quarter extended-stay hotel ADR was the highest ever reported in 2023 and all three segments have more than fully recovered their 2019 nominal ADR values," the report said. In its "2023 First Quarter U.S. Extended-Stay Hotels Report," Highland said the economy and mid-price extended-stay hotels made considerable gains in RevPAR relative to corresponding classes of all hotels between 2019 and 2023. Due to high concentration of rooms in urban markets, upscale extended-stay hotels have seen RevPAR decline slightly relative to all upscale class hotels. However, the gap is expected to narrow as urban markets make a full recovery, the report noted. "Rising interest rates and construction costs, as well as tightening loan underwriting, means extended-stay supply growth should be relatively low nationally for two to three years. Assuming the overall hotel industry does not endure a correction, extended-stay hotels should set more new performance records during the near term at least," says Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group.

U.S. EXTENDED-STAY HOTELS set new performance records for demand, ADR and RevPAR in the third quarter of 2022, according to a report from The Highland Group. However, rate resistance is growing at lower price points as recession fears loom. The "U.S. Extended-stay Hotels: Third quarter 2022" report by the Highland Group said that the economy extended-stay segment reported six consecutive months of demand drop and two successive quarterly falls in occupancy in the quarter ending September. "Mid-price extended-stay hotels reported first quarterly decline in occupancy since fourth quarter of 2020. Excluding the last 15 months, extended-stay hotel ADR is still increasing at the fastest rate for 20 years but, like the overall hotel industry, ADR growth continues to decelerate," the report said. "The slowdown in ADR growth is greatest at higher price points although mid-price and upscale extended-stay ADR is still increasing faster than the economy segment."

HOTEL STOCK PRICE volatility dragged the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index in November. Both the hotel brands and hotel REITs significantly underperformed their respective benchmarks during the month. The Baird/STR index fell 7.6 percent during the month from October. However, it was up 11.5 percent year to date through the first 11 months of 2021. The index rose 6.8 percent during October compared to September. The index was behind both the S&P 500, which fell 0.8 percent in November, and the MSCI US REIT Index, which dropped 0.9 percent. The hotel brand sub-index dropped 7.2 percent from October while the hotel REIT sub-index slipped 8.9 percent. "Hotel stock price volatility continued in November with both the Hotel brands and Hotel REITs significantly underperforming their respective benchmarks," said Michael Bellisario, senior hotel research analyst and director at Baird. "Two different investment narratives drove stock price performance during the month: In early November, third quarter earnings were better than expected, reopening optimism continued to gain momentum, and the hotel brands were hitting new all-time highs; but, by the end of the month, broader growth and inflation concerns surfaced, the Omicron variant spooked investors and impacted all travel-related stocks, and the hotel REITs were hitting new year-to-date lows."

U.S. HOTEL OCCUPANCY has reached an all-time high in the fourth week of December though the numbers came in lower than the previous week, according to STR. Christmas Day occupancy was 47.2 percent, up from the previous high of 47 percent recorded in 2015. Occupancy was 44.3 percent for the week ended Dec. 25, down from 53.8 percent the week before, and down 8.7 percent when compared to 2019. ADR was $129.67 for the week, up from $121.87 the week before and an increase of 0.5 percent from 2019. RevPAR reached $57.46, down from $65.61 the week before, and dropped 8.3 percent from two years ago. According to STR, a steeper decline during the week from 2019 levels was due to the fact that Christmas fell on a Wednesday two years ago and allowed for an earlier return to non-holiday weekend levels that year. "While Omicron-related closures and service disruptions affected performance in New York City, overall U.S. occupancy was less impacted," STR said.

THE STATE OF the U.S. hotel industry is strong going into 2024, according to American Hotel & Lodging Association's 2024 State of the Hotel Industry report. Average hotel occupancy is expected to reach nearly 63.6 percent in 2024, a slight increase from the 62.9 percent in 2023 but below the 65.8 percent rate recorded in 2019. Nominal RevPAR is also anticipated to rise to $101.82 in 2024, up by 4 percent from 2023 and over 17 percent from 2019. AHLA projects hotels will pay employees a record sum of over $123 billion in wages, salaries, and compensation in 2024, surpassing $118 billion in 2023 and $102 billion in 2019. Hotels are expected to add approximately 45,000 employees this year, while the industry's workforce remains nearly 225,000 below the almost 2.37 million employed in 2019, the AHLA report said. The report, projecting persistent challenges for hoteliers in the face of nationwide labor shortages as they approach 2019 occupancy levels, draws on data and analysis from Oxford Economics. It was developed in collaboration with AHLA Premier Partners: STR, Avendra, Ecolab, Encore, JLL, Oracle, and Towne Park.

U.S. HOTEL PERFORMANCE improved in the fourth week of June compared to the previous week, showing positive year-over-year results, according to CoStar. Occupancy, RevPAR and ADR all increased over the prior week. Occupancy increased to 71.9 percent for the week ending June 29, up from 69.5 percent the previous week, showing a 3.2 percent year-over-year increase. ADR rose to $162.81 from $159.88, marking a 3.6 percent increase compared to last year. RevPAR climbed to $117.13 from $111.17 the previous week, reflecting a 6.9 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2023. Among the top 25 markets, Minneapolis recorded the highest year-over-year increases: occupancy rose by 20.1 percent to 74.8 percent, ADR increased by 15.7 percent to $150.42 and RevPAR grew by 39 percent to $112.46. The market's performance was boosted by events such as the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials and the Twin Cities Pride Parade.

ANNUAL CHANGES IN U.S. hotel utility costs and in the Consumer Price Index, or inflation, have historically proven to be strongly correlated. As of August 2022, CBRE is forecasting CPI growth to be 7.7 percent in 2022, followed by another 3.6 percent in 2023. Since inflation has averaged just 2.2 percent since 2000, these inflation projections have hoteliers concerned about operating costs. Given that rising energy costs are a significant driver of the current rise in CPI, hotel managers are especially worried about utility department expenses. Over the past 50 years, utility department expenses have averaged between 3 and 4 percent of total revenue, indicating that hotel managers have been successfully controlling energy costs in the face of fluctuating business volumes. This is particularly commendable given the highly fixed nature of utility expenses. To provide some context to the current challenging environment, we studied recent trends in hotel utility department expenses. The data come from a sample of more than 2,800 U.S. hotels that reported utility department expenses each year from 2015 through 2021 for CBRE's annual "Trends in the Hotel Industry" survey. In 2021 the properties in the sample averaged 209 rooms in size, with an annual occupancy rate of 54.2 percent and an average daily rate of $152.70.

ADR GROWTH FOR U.S. extended-stay hotels reached a record high in February, according to hotel investment advisors The Highland Group. Owing to this, the segment saw record high demand and monthly RevPAR up by more than 40 percent during the month compared to a year ago. During the month, occupancy growth was also significant with extended-stay hotel's occupancy premium compared to the overall hotel industry staying well above its long-term average. The 3.1 percent increase in extended-stay room supply in February is the fifth consecutive month of 4 percent or lower supply growth, according to "U.S. Extended-Stay Hotels Bulletin: February 2022" report by Highland Group. It suggested that mid-price and upscale supply increases should be well below pre-pandemic levels during the near term, the report added.

ECONOMIC HEADWINDS AND geopolitical concerns are expected to affect U.S. hotel performance in 2024, according to PwC. The issues include continuing high interest rates and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Occupancy levels have consistently decreased over the past seven months compared to the same period in 2022. This downward trend is anticipated to persist for the remainder of this year and extend into at least the first quarter of 2024. However, PwC forecasts a 63 percent annual occupancy rate for US hotels this year. Hotels in the U.S. experienced a weakening in leisure demand during the latter part of this year, as global vacation destinations reopened, and leisure travelers regained confidence in traveling abroad, PwC said in its latest report titled U.S. Hospitality Directions: November 2023. Moreover, gains in individual and group business travel haven't completely counteracted this softening.

IN THE FIRST week of February, U.S. weekly hotel occupancy eclipsed 50 percent for the first time in more than a month, according to STR. However, occupancy declined for the week under review when compared to the same period in 2019. Occupancy was 50.4 percent for the week ending Feb. 5, up from 49.7 percent the week before and down 15.8 percent from the comparable week in 2019. ADR was $125.06 for the week, up from $122.40 the week before and down just 1.2 percent from two years ago. RevPAR reached $63.05 during the week under review, up from $60.82 the week before and down 16.8 percent from the same period two years ago. According to the report, none of STR's top 25 markets recorded an occupancy increase over 2019. Norfolk/Virginia Beach came closest to its pre-pandemic level, down just 0.6 percent to 47.3 percent.

NOVEMBER BROUGHT A little less for U.S. hotels to be thankful for compared to the prior month, according to STR, but also saw improvements over 2019's performance. Meanwhile, with Christmas a week away, performance surpassed the comparable time period for 2019. Occupancy for November reached 57.6 percent, down from 62.9 percent in October and down 6.2 percent compared to 2019. October's occupancy was 8.8 percent lower than the same month in 2019. ADR was $128.50 for the month, lower than October's $134.78 but 2.4 percent higher than November 2019. RevPAR also was down on a month-to-month basis, $74.03 versus $84.75, but it was only down 3.9 percent from the same month in 2019 versus a 7.6 percent difference between October 2021 and October 2019. New York City had the highest occupancy for the month among STR's top 25 markets with 71.2 percent. That was still down 17.9 percent from 2019. None of the top 25 markets saw higher occupancy than 2019.

DEMAND FOR U.S. extended-stay hotels in the fourth quarter of 2021 was more than five times greater than supply, resulting in overall occupancy just below its 2019 peak, according to the Highland Group. December's monthly report from the group also showed the segment to be firmly in recovery. According to the research consulting firm's "U.S. Extended-stay Hotels: Fourth quarter 2021" report, the bottom up recovery continues with economy and mid-price extended-stay hotels in the fourth quarter posting record nominal average rate and RevPAR. Demand in the fourth quarter is at a record high and room revenues are almost 97 percent of their nominal high reached during the same period in 2019, the report said. Occupancy and ADR remain 4 to 5 percentage points off previous high levels but should pick up in the near term as the demand change was six times the corresponding change in supply, it added.

THE U.S. HOTEL industry showed improved performance in May compared to the same month last year, according to CoStar. All three performance metrics-occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR-increased year-over-year. The top 25 markets reported higher occupancy and ADR than all other markets. Occupancy increased to 65.7 percent in May, up from 65.2 percent in April, and increased by 1.5 percent compared to May 2023. ADR climbed to $160.40 from $157.31 the previous month, a 2.4 percent rise from 2023. RevPAR reached $105.46, up from $102.51 the preceding month, reflecting a 4 percent increase from May of the previous year. Among the top 25 markets, New York City led in all three key performance metrics: occupancy rose 5.8 percent to 88.9 percent, ADR increased 6.3 percent to $339.25, and RevPAR climbed 12.5 percent to $301.57. Markets with the lowest occupancy for the month included Detroit at 46.1 percent and Chicago at 49.4 percent.

U.S. HOTEL PERFORMANCE exhibited mixed results in the first week of May compared to the prior week, according to CoStar. Among key metrics, occupancy declined, whereas both RevPAR and ADR saw an uptick. Occupancy dropped to 64.4 percent for the week ending May 4, down from the previous week's 65.7 percent, marking a 0.8 percent year-over-year decrease. ADR rose to $159.97 from $154.44, reflecting a 1.3 percent increase compared to last year. RevPAR climbed to $103.09, up from $101.42 the prior week, indicating a 0.5 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023. Among the top 25 markets, Seattle reported the highest year-over-year increase in occupancy, rising by 8.1 percent to 69.4 percent. Dallas recorded the largest increase in ADR, up 5.8 percent to $134.33.

U.S. HOTEL PERFORMANCE exhibited mixed results in the third week of April compared to the previous week, according to CoStar. Key metrics such as occupancy and ADR saw slight increases, while RevPAR declined from the preceding week. Occupancy rose to 66.8 percent for the week ending April 20, up from the previous week's 65.8 percent, but marked a 0.3 percent year-over-year decrease. ADR dropped to $158.60 from $160.20, a 1.5 percent increase compared to last year. RevPAR climbed to $105.94 from $105.48 the prior week, showing a 1.2 percent rise compared to the same period in 2023. Among the top 25 markets, Philadelphia saw the most significant year-over-year occupancy surge, soaring by 14.3 percent to reach 72.1 percent, while RevPAR also notably increased by 23.2 percent to $114.11.

THE OMICRON COVID-19 variant could derail the hotel industry's fledgling recovery if countries like the U.S. move forward to tighten testing policies, according to HotStats. Future hotel bookings, meetings and other hotel-related activity will be impacted by the expectation of travel impediments, whether self-imposed, company-imposed or government-mandated, it added. In the U.S., major indices were still down double digits in October 2021 compared to same month two years ago, according to a blog post by HotStats. "Since a rapid uptick in occupancy from the beginning of the year through the summer, hitting an apex in July, occupancy in the U.S. has since more or less flatlined, a signal that the leisure boom could not be sustained at the same levels prior," said HotStats. "Though much maligned, there is propitious data surfacing in corporate travel. In October, corporate ADR was $7 higher than in October 2019 and $35 higher than in the previous month. Corporate volume mix, defined as the proportion of rooms sold at the corporate rate compared to total rooms sold, has grown 6 percentage points since July."

U.S. HOTEL PERFORMANCE moved closer to pre-pandemic levels during the third week of November according to STR. It dipped, however, from the week before. Occupancy was 59.7 percent for the week ending Nov. 20, down from 61.6 percent for the week before and a slight decrease of 2.1 percent from the same period two years ago. ADR for the third week of the month was $126.66, down from $129.98 the week before and increased 1.7 percent when compared to two years ago. RevPAR decreased to $75.60 for the third week of the month from $80.02 the week before, and a slight drop of 0.4 percent for the same period in 2019. Among STR's top 25 markets, Phoenix saw the largest occupancy increase during the week under review, up 6.4 percent to 76.6 percent over 2019. Miami reported the largest ADR increase when compared to 2019, 25.5 percent to $207.72. Oahu Island, Hawaii, experienced the steepest occupancy decline from 2019, down 35.2 percent to 51.8 percent.

U.S. HOTEL PERFORMANCE saw an uptick in the third week of March compared to the previous week, although year-over-year figures continued to decline, according to CoStar. Key metrics such as occupancy, ADR and RevPAR continued their upward trajectory during this period compared to the preceding week. Occupancy increased to 66.5 percent for the week ending March 16, up from the previous week's 63.2 percent, reflecting a 1.4 percent year-over-year decline. ADR rose to $163.21 from $156.96 the previous week, marking a 2.1 percent decrease compared to last year. RevPAR reached $108.51, up from the previous week's $99.17, signifying a 3.5 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2023. Among the top 25 markets, Seattle reported significant year-over-year increases in occupancy, rising by 12.7 percent to 73 percent, and in RevPAR, which increased by 21.7 percent to $120.29.