US: According to a new report from The Highland Group, extended stay properties in the U.S have weathered the pandemic more effectively than other parts of the lodging industry.
The lodging sector in general fell by record margins year over year, with occupancy in U.S extended stay properties falling to 50.2 percent. ADR fell 29 per cent to $75.48 and revenue per available room dropped 55.6 per cent to $37.90.
Many brands, such as Woodsprings Suites and HomeTowne studios vastly outperformed the rest of the sector. These brands in particular only saw an occupancy drop of 9.7 per cent, and a 6 percent drop in ADR year over year.
The report noted: “The product’s comparatively high share of longer-term, essentially residential guests and a large proportion of construction-related demand have cushioned the impact of the declines in transient and group travel.”
However, these numbers are ahead of the US lodging industry as a whole, which has struggled to adapt to the pandemic. According to data from the American Hotel and Lodging Association, the industry is still below 50 per cent of its pre-COVID staffing, demonstrating how hard it has been hit.
The report further said: “Extended-stay hotels’ renewed focus on longer-term guests during this contractionary period has resulted in the widest differential between extended-stay and overall hotel occupancy we have ever reported.”
