UNITED STATES RevPAR at U.S. hotels rose 10.1% year over year during March, finishing at US$62.47, driven by higher occupancy and creeping ADR.
U.S. hotels reached 61.4% occupancy in March, STR reports, an increase of 6.1% over the same period in 2010. ADR ended the month up 3.8% to US$101.72.
As in prior months, the highest ADR increases were recorded at the luxury end of the spectrum. Luxury segment RevPAR growth was almost equally made up of ADR and occupancy growth, a strong signal that pricing power is returning.
Supply growth remained muted, as U.S. inventory has increased by just 1% since a year ago. The upscale and upper-midscale segments have seen inventory grow by 3% and 3.6%, respectively, however.
Hoteliers in the top 25 U.S. markets continue to register strong ADR growth, with San Francisco (up 12%), Oahu (up 9%), New Orleans (up 8.9%) and Chicago (up 7%) leading the way. New York City hotels, which had reported strong demand growth throughout the year, recorded a 4.1% decrease in occupancy, while rates increased 5.8%, according to STR.
Four major U.S. markets achieved double-digit occupancy increases during March: Detroit (up 13.4% to 56.7%), Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida (up 11.2% to 81.1%), Dallas (up 10.7% to 61.5%) and New Orleans (up 10.5% to 78.7%). Two markets reported occupancy decreases: New York City (down 4.1% to 78.2%) and Washington, D.C. (down 1.5% percent to 70.6%).
San Francisco was the only top market to experience a double-digit ADR increase, rising 12% to US$142.49. Atlanta fell 3.7% in ADR to US$84.37, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.
New Orleans jumped 20.4% in RevPAR to US$110.13, reporting the largest increase in that metric. Six other markets experienced RevPAR increases of more than 15%: San Francisco (17.5% to US$105.62), Chicago (16.4% to US$63.60), Dallas (16.1% to US$52.98), Orlando (16.1% to US$83.54), Tampa-St. Petersburg (15.8% to US$91.63) and Detroit (15.5% to US$42.73). None of the top 25 markets experienced RevPAR decreases.