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In a story for industry leader HOTELS Magazine, author Nathan Greenhalgh states that reliminary year-end data indicates that the U.S. hotel industry will finish 2012 by posting strong performances in all major metrics, according to new data from STR.
Preliminary 2012 year-end results for the U.S. hotel industry include: increases in supply of 0.5% and demand of 0.8% 2.3% increase in occupancy to 61.3% 4.3% rise in average daily rate to US$106.17 6.6% jump in revenue per available room to US$65.08 “The data indicates 2012 will finish as a solid year for the U.S. hotel industry,” said Amanda Hite, STR president. “The industry has experienced back-to-back years of record demand, which, coupled with limited supply growth, has fueled the increases in the other measurement categories. It's been near ideal conditions for the industry to finally put the recession in the rearview mirror.” STR COO Brad Garner said the preliminary year-end results aren't a big surprise for most industry observers. “The numbers are in line with the forecasts we've been issuing for most of the year, which shows the stability the industry has established,” Garner said. “Industry operators have benefitted from another year of increased demand, and in many cases, have been able to adjust their pricing models accordingly. It hasn't been an easy climb back from the depths of 2009 and 2010, but it appears that U.S. hoteliers are in the midst of experiencing a nice run. Of course, performance varies market to market, but overall it looks as though 2012 will finish as a good one for U.S. hoteliers.” Hotels Magazine is the world's leading publication covering the hotel industry. HotelsMag.com's Nathan Greenhalgh writes that the U.S. hotel industry reported increases in all three key performance metrics in 2011, according to data from STR.
Overall, the U.S. hotel industry's occupancy rose 4.4% to 60.1%, its ADR was up 3.7% to US$101.64 and RevPAR increased 8.2% to US$61.06. 2011 was the first time since 2008 that the industry ended the year with occupancy of more than 60% and an ADR of more than US$100. However, for the month of December, the U.S. hotel industry's occupancy rose 4.1% to only 47.6%, its average daily rate was up 3.4% to US$99.67 and its revenue per available room increased 7.6% to US$47.48. For the year U.S. hotels reported a 0.6% increase in supply in 2011 and a 5% demand increase for the year. Demand has increased 5% or more only three times since 1987. "2011 was a strong year for the U.S. hotel industry," said Randy Smith, co-founder and chairman at STR. "Room-supply growth continued to drift downward as room demand reached record levels during the year. Though occupancy and ADR were still below 2007 and 2008 levels, it was still encouraging to see the industry experience a solid rebound during a period of considerable economic difficulties." "In 2012 the hotel industry will face tough year-over-year comparisons, though we are still optimistic," Smith continued. "With modest gains in occupancy and stronger increases in room rates, we expect RevPAR to increase about 4.3% in 2012." Among the Top 25 Markets, Detroit, Michigan, ended the year with the largest occupancy increase, up 10.2% to 59.8%, followed by Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida, with a 9.7% increase to 60.5%. New Orleans, Louisiana, ended the year virtually flat with a 0.4% decrease to 64.2%. Two markets ended the year with double-digit ADR increases: San Francisco/San Mateo up 13.9% to US$155.14 and Oahu Island, Hawaii up 10% to US$165.05. The only top markets to report ADR decreases in 2011 were Atlanta, which fell 0.4% to US$82.58 and Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia, which fell 0.3% to US$84.24. San Francisco/San Mateo achieved the largest RevPAR increase, rising 19.7% to US$122.54, followed by Nashville, up 14.8% to US$58.01 and Miami-Hialeah up 14.1% to US$115.65. None of the top markets reported RevPAR decreases for the year. Hotels Magazine is the world's leading publication covering the hotel industry. Recently, Ann Bagel Storck from Hotels Magazine sat down with Executive Chef Michelle Weaver of the Charleston Grill in Charleston, SC to discuss hotel dining trends. Michelle Weaver has spent the past three years as executive chef at Charleston Grill, the signature restaurant at the 440-room Charleston Place in Charleston, South Carolina. The restaurant has garnered honors including the AAA Four-Diamond award and Distinguished Restaurants of North America Award, and with an average check of US$60 without liquor, the 120-seat, dinner-only venue is not inexpensive. Nevertheless, Weaver has found ways to appeal to a broad range of hotel guests — not to mention a healthy percentage of locals — with revamped menus and personal touches. She recently spoke with HOTELS about some of her best strategies as well as her most exciting plans for 2012.
HOTELS: How would you sum up what characterizes F&B at Charleston Grill? Michelle Weaver: We really have the perfect package. We have great-quality products for food and people that are passionate and care about what they’re doing to prepare them, and then we have these great servers, and it’s a relaxed atmosphere. It’s not stuffy even though it’s a 4-star restaurant. You don’t feel like you should have to whisper. You can relax and be taken care of. It’s the entire package. We strive to make it a magical experience — not just a place to go have dinner. HOTELS: What would you identify on the food side as highlights of that perfect package? Weaver: A few years ago we redid the dining room, to update the look. We wanted to update our menu to be in the forefront of things again. We came up with four quadrants, four mini-menus. One side has Southern specialties — since we’re in Charleston, tourists want to have something Southern while they’re there. We also have a cosmopolitan side for our world travelers; you could find anything from south Indian curries to sashimi to ceviches, all these beautiful world flavors that we have. For the business traveler, [we have a pure menu with things like] just a simple, beautiful piece of steak. We also have lush — foie gras, caviar and these things. Within those four mini menus, there’s something for everybody. It’s almost like being four restaurants. Being a hotel restaurant, it’s a different animal than an independent restaurant. You have a lot of people to please and a lot of targets to try to hit. Within the hotel we’ve got business travelers, luxury travelers, tourists in town, and we’ve got a great local following. To try to appease everybody and give them things they’re all looking for without it being a big mess, we played it out like this, and people love it. HOTELS: Approximately what percentage of your restaurant patrons are locals versus hotel guests? How important is local business to you, and what are some ways you’ve tried to attract it? Weaver: At any point during a night, I’d say it would be 40% to 60% locals, probably closer to an average of 50% on a regular basis. We have a locals appreciation card, so to speak, a loyalty card. They get a percentage off, and they can build other incentives as they use it. We have a big farm-to-table movement [in Charleston]. We’re not a farm-to-table-driven restaurant, but we have great farmers and fishermen that take great care of us, and for our local clientele, that means a lot to them. HOTELS: How is what you offer in F&B at Charleston Grill both similar to and different from what is available in the broader Charleston restaurant landscape? Weaver: We combine a lot of things to [reflect] a little bit of everybody instead of just one thing, which I think gives us more diversity. Because we are supported with the hotel, that gives us more ability and power to be able to get fresh lobster, caviar, all those things that a small independent restaurant really can’t afford to put on their menu. With that backing, it enables us to do the best job with the best products. HOTELS: What are some of the most noteworthy broad hotel F&B trends you’ve observed recently, and how do your offerings reflect — or differ from — them? Weaver: Hotel restaurants seem to have a stigma. I think little by little as big names take over hotel restaurants, people want to go there. I think that stigma’s pulling away a little bit, which is great. Our hotel belongs to Orient-Express, and I think one of the best things that they allow all of us to do is that each property is left to be itself. They want the character of the community [the hotel is] in [to be reflected]. They want the diversity of flavors on their menus. They’re not telling us this is your standard menu. Each hotel and each restaurant has its own character, its own life, its own soul, which I think it wonderful. A lot of hotel groups have a standard corporate menu, but I’m seeing more and more smaller boutique hotels especially have more individual restaurants. Each of them has a different name, they have different flavors, some are using farm-to-table, some are using molecular gastronomy — that’s nice. It takes that stigma away from the hotel restaurant. We really don’t focus much on trends. Those come and go. We look at ourselves and say, what can we do to make our guest experience better? Coming up with little things like putting a card — handwritten by the staff — on the table because we know they’re celebrating their anniversary or their birthday or printing up the tasting menu they had so they have something to take with them — little moments to make that magic come together. HOTELS: What are some of the most exciting plans you have for 2012? Weaver: We’re working on a few events we’re really excited about. I’ve started what I call “Veg Stock.” It’s a vegetarian wine dinner. We do it in the summertime around the anniversary of Woodstock, and it just features all my great local farmers, and it’s a way to say thank you to all our vegetarian clientele. It grew into a two-day event last year, and we may have to do three days next year. To put vegetables at the center of the plate and then pair wines with it is a challenge for me, which I love, and our guests love it. We have people come who aren’t even vegetarian because they know it’s going to be a fun event. We’re going to do a game dinner. It will probably be next fall or winter — all game and big red wines. We started getting teased because of Veg Stock. We had guests say, what about us carnivores? HOTELS: What hot trends do you expect to emerge in F&B in the overall hotel industry in the coming year? Weaver: That’s hard to say because I don’t focus too much on trends. We just focus on how we can make ourselves better. We stay involved in our community with charity events and speaking to local clubs about our local farmers and sustainable seafood and those kinds of things. I would love to see more chefs and hotels be more involved in the communities they’re in. That’s just my wish. HOTELS Magazine is the world's leading publication covering the global lodging industry. |
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