According to\u00a0STR, Inc<\/a>, a hotel industry market data firm, the US hotel occupancy rate plunged 26.4% to 36.8% during the week of 13 to 19 December, compared over the same period in 2019.<\/p>\n STR said the average daily rate (ADR) dropped 21.9% to $85.50 over the week. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) was at $31.45, down 41.5%.<\/p>\n For the first time on record, the industry had one billion unsold room nights as Americans stayed home and or travelers avoided hotels.<\/p>\n STR’s data for Top 25 US markets had lower occupancy (34.9%) than the national average but higher ADR ($90) than all other markets.<\/p>\n Tampa\/St. Petersburg, Florida recorded the highest occupancy level (45.4%), while Oahu Island, Hawaii (21.6%), and Minneapolis\/St. Paul, Minnesota-Wisconsin (23.9%) saw the lowest.<\/p>\n These worrisome stats are closely watched metrics for gauging hotel health and are sounding alarm bells regarding the health of some\u00a0hotel operators.<\/p>\n Readers may recall we’ve\u00a0outlined<\/a>\u00a0the epicenter of the hotel implosion, that is, New York City.<\/p>\n Given the uninspiring rebound in national occupancy rates for mid-December, S&P Global Ratings warned in a report last month that the hotel industry’s recovery may not occur until 2023.<\/p>\n With that being said, Best Western CEO David Kong recently told\u00a0CNN<\/a>\u00a0that “If we don’t get a vaccine soon and business doesn’t return, it’s going to get much worse.”<\/p>\n Some two million hotel-related jobs have been lost, and about 25% of hotels are at risk of foreclosure.<\/p>\n Commercial-real estate experts at Trepp\u00a0outlined<\/a>\u00a0last week that the overall credit performance of commercial real estate loans tied to hotels continues to show “pandemic related stress.”<\/p>\n Even though hotels remain under tremendous pressure, stimulus and vaccine hopes have backstopped\u00a0BBB- tranche of the\u00a0CMBX Series 9 index<\/a>\u00a0(overly exposed to malls and hotels) from falling lower.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com\/s3fs-public\/styles\/inline_image_mobile\/public\/inline-images\/2020-12-28_12-18-10_0.png?itok=KMlZ7Wvn\")
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