Do you want the good news or bad news first? Well, both aren’t that great. STR released its October performance numbers and the industry posted declines in the three categories that matter most: occupancy was down 6.2 percent to 58.1 percent, ADR fell 8.2 percent to $99.08 and RevPAR dropped 13.8 percent to finish at $57.57.
The less bad news, if you will, is that the declines are less than those over the past three months or those year to date (check out the charts from STR). So we’re still falling, just not as fast. Mark Lomanno, STR president, said “It appears it will take a few more months of better demand results before any pricing rebound occurs.”
The economy may be headed from recession to recovery, but it’s not going to happen overnight, especially not for the hotel industry. A recent story in the NY Times suggested recovery was still a long way off and Lalia Rach, the dean of the hospitality program at the Tisch Center, cautioned that lowered quality and customer service as a result of staff cuts would make a quick rise in rates impossible.
Another story from STR suggests travel and hotel performance could improve this holiday weekend compared to a year ago, but still below 2007 levels. Any improvement would give the industry something to be thankful for.

The lodging industry typically doesn’t spend a lot of time considering its past. Some may find that odd since compared to many other businesses (computers, automobiles, aircraft), the hotel business is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, in the history of man. That changed recently with the publication of two great books that look at the history of the hotel business from different perspectives.
The more interesting of the two is “Great American Hoteliers: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry,” a fascinating and entertaining series of profiles of 16 men who author Stanley Turkel argues were the builders of the modern American hotel industry. That’s significant because due to the efforts of these titans (and others, of course), the American style of hotelkeeping long surpassed the European tradition that reigned for centuries.
Some of the profiles cover names (Hilton, Marriott, Johnson, Wilson) familiar to even casual students of hotel or U.S. history. Sadly, just one of the pioneers covered in the book (John Q. Hammons) is still alive and active in the industry. To me, the more interesting tales cover hoteliers about whom I knew little before reading the book but now have a greater appreciation for their contributions.
Most compelling story focuses on Kanjibhai Manchhubhai Patel, who Turkel’s identifies as the first Indian-American hotelier. K.M. Patel arrived in San Francisco in 1923 and soon began operating a small residential hotel in the city. The rest, as they say, is history: Today Indian-American hoteliers dominate the industry with their trade association, AAHOA, recently surpassing 10,000 members. As Turkel says, this community represents a true American success story.
To order the book, go to www.greatamericanhoteliers.com. I heartily recommend it.
The other publication of note is more official but also interesting. To honor the start of its 100th year of operation, the American Hotel & Lodging Association produced “A Century of Hospitality,” a look back at the last 10 decades of the hotel business and the association. Masterfully edited by Len Vermillion, Marla Cimini and Phil Hayward, the book presents an easy-to-read, yet informative walk through the major events that shaped our industry.
Go to the AH&LA website to order the book.