U.S. weekly hotel occupancy jumped almost seven points from the previous week, according to STR‘s data for the week of March 14-20. Occupancy, at 58.9 percent, was at the highest level in the country since early March 2020.
In addition, average daily rate during the week reached US$108.07 while revenue per available room was US$63.62.
The 58.9 percent absolute occupancy was a 93.9 percent increase from the comparable, pandemic-affected week last year, but more importantly, represented almost 85 percent of occupancy regained from the 2019 benchmark, according to STR. There was also more improvement in ADR, which reached 81 percent of the comparable 2019 level.
Every top 25 market experienced week-to-week improvement in occupancy. Outside of the major markets, destinations in Florida and Texas continued to advance with those like the Florida Keys, Sarasota, McAllen/Brownsville and San Antonio even surpassing 2019 levels.
Among the top 25 markets, Tampa (85.3 percent) and Miami (80.7 percent) experienced the highest occupancy levels. The lowest top 25 occupancy levels came in Boston (37 percent) and Minneapolis (39 percent).
Aggregate data for the top 25 markets showed slightly lower occupancy (56.5 percent) but higher ADR (US$114.55) than all other markets. The major markets continue to show the most sizable gaps in current occupancy versus comparable weeks from 2019.