U.S. weekly occupancy peaks: U.S. weekly hotel occupancy reached its highest level since October 2019, while room rates hit an all-time high, as per STR’s latest data through July 24.
- Occupancy: 71.4% (-7.8%)
- Average daily rate (ADR): US$141.75 (+4%)
- Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$101.24 (-4.2%)
ADR, while an all-time high on a nominal basis, comes in at a real value of US$136 when adjusted for inflation, shy of the record in 2019. Both occupancy and ADR played a role in RevPAR reaching its highest level since July 2019 on a nominal basis. Among the top 24 markets, Tampa saw the only occupancy rise since 2019 (+2.9% to 78.5%), while San Francisco/ San Mateo saw the steepest decline in occupancy (-35.2% to 58.3%). Miami reported the largest ADR (+52% to US$237.49) and RevPAR (+49.3% to US$183.66) increases over 2019. The largest RevPAR drops were in San Francisco/San Mateo (-54.4% to US$97.93) and Washington, D.C. (-43.4% to US$69.86).
Vacasa going public: Vacation rental management platform Vacasa has entered into an agreement to become a publicly traded company through a business combination with the SPAC TPG Pace Solutions. The transaction implies a pro forma equity value for Vacasa of approximately US$4.5 billion and capitalizes the business with approximately US$485 million in gross cash proceeds to fund the company’s future growth plans. In 2021, Vacasa estimates its gross booking value to be approximately US$1.6 billion on five million nights sold. The company forecasts a revenue CAGR of 31% from 2021 to 2023, with revenue growing from US$757 million in 2021 to US$1.3 billion by 2023. Vacasa’s technology platform optimizes income and care for property owners, while providing guests with a vacation rental experience in over 400 destinations.
Ashford’s Q2: Ashford Hospitality Trust reported 2Q21 results that included comparable RevPAR for all hotels increasing 372% to US$78.13 on a 21.8% increase in ADR and a 287.5% increase in occupancy. Net loss attributable to common stockholders was US$(69.5) million or US$(4.35) per diluted share for the quarter. Adjusted EBITDAre was US$31.4 million for the quarter. The company ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of US$520.4 million and restricted cash of US$70.1 million. Analysts from R.W. Baird noted, “The bigger picture focus, in our opinion, continues to be the company’s liquidity profile, deleveraging efforts, and how much additional dilution will occur via incremental common share issuance.”
Serviced living performs better during pandemic: Serviced living concepts (serviced apartments and co-living) performed better during the COVID-19 pandemic with a higher occupancy of about 20% to 30% in some cases, according to the latest survey by PKF Hospitality Group. This was mostly due to the opportunity for social distancing, self-catering facilities and the overall residential character. Trends that showed a positive outlook for the serviced living concept: flexible lifestyle; increasing number of single households; flexibility of location; urbanization and lack of affordable housing in big cities.