For the week ending Dec. 18, U.S. hotel performance surpassed the levels seen during the comparable week of 2019, which STR credits to that week (which ended on Dec. 21, 2019) being closer to Christmas.
For the week of Dec. 12-18, occupancy reached 53.8 percent, up 7.7 percent from 2019. Average daily rate was $121.87, up 11.6 percent, while revenue per available room was $65.61, up 20.2 percent from two years before.
The following week, U.S. hotel occupancy dropped but reached an all-time high on Christmas Day. For the week of Dec. 19-25, occupancy was 44.3 percent, down 8.7 percent from the comparable week in 2019; ADR reached $129.67, up 0.5 percent; and RevPAR was $57.46, down 8.3 percent. Christmas Day occupancy (47.2 percent) was just above the previous high from 2015 (47 percent).
While omicron-related closures and service disruptions affected performance in New York City, overall U.S. occupancy was less impacted. A steeper decline from 2019 levels was due more to a calendar shift because Christmas in 2019 fell on a Wednesday and allowed for an earlier return to nonholiday weekend levels that year.
Top Markets
Among the top 25 markets for the week of Dec. 12-18, Norfolk/Virginia Beach saw the largest occupancy increase over 2019 (+20.4 percent to 51.8 percent). New York City experienced the steepest occupancy decline from 2019 (-12.4 percent to 73.4 percent) but reported the second-highest absolute occupancy level among the STR-defined U.S. markets.
New Orleans registered the largest ADR increase when compared with 2019 (+38.1 percent to $152.28).
The largest RevPAR deficits were in San Francisco/San Mateo (-10.4 percent to $87.69) and Oahu Island, Hawaii (-9 percent to $160.41).
For the week of Dec. 19-25, none of the top 25 markets recorded an occupancy increase over 2019, but Dallas came closest to its 2019 comparable (-2.8 percent to 43.6 percent). San Diego registered the largest ADR increase when compared with 2019 (+12.5 percent to $147.05). The largest RevPAR deficits were in San Francisco/San Mateo (-32 percent to $65.66) and New York City (-30 percent to $143.80).