Hotel operators saw strong March despite lag in Boston-area conventions



0521 Westin

Operating results for Greater Boston’s hotels were positive in March, according to a survey.










Thomas Grillo
Real Estate Editor- Boston Business Journal

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Despite fewer Boston-based conventions and major events in March, Greater Boston’s hotel market still posted a positive month on the strength of the region’s pricing power.

PKF Consulting and Hospitality Research, which surveyed 97 local hotel operators, found the Boston area had an average occupancy rate of 72.1 percent and an average daily room rate (ADR) of $176.63 in March. Taken together, those metrics combined for average revenue per available room (RevPAR) of $127.31.

On a year-over-year basis, occupancy was down 3.1 percentage points while ADR was up 6 percentage points over March 2013’s levels. The net result was a 2.8 percent increase in RevPAR from the level hit a year earlier.

Boston’s core submarkets experienced similar year-over-year decreases in occupancy ranging from between 5.5 and 6.3 percentage points, according to PKF. The occupancy losses in downtown Boston were largely driven by two factors: fewer citywide conventions that resulted in fewer room nights, according to PKF. Specifically, there were four citywide events in March 2013 with total room nights at 54,088, while there were only two conventions in March 2014 with total room nights at 32,533.

Meanwhile, the region’s suburban markets saw increases in occupancy. Specifically, the Route 495 South submarket achieved a large occupancy increase of 8.5 percentage points. Overall, Cambridge achieved the highest occupancy rate among all submarkets atf 81 percent, followed by Boston’s Downtown at 78.2 percent.

All Boston and suburban submarkets experienced increases in ADR. Cambridge led the ADR growth with a 11.4 percentage point increase, followed by Boston’s Downtown at 8 percentage points.



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