Hotels Welcome Uptick in Economy
The U.S. hotel industry is a riding a wave of growth. Latest figures from STR Inc., a hospitality data gathering organization, report the industry saw occupancy rates increase 1.5 percent year over year, while seven markets, led by Boston and Orlando, saw double-digit average daily rate increases.
While nowhere near a top performer, Atlanta’s hotel market is plenty robust, well above the national average.
Industry performance is measured in REVPAR. That’s revenue per available room, a combination of occupancy and the average daily rate.
[…]Jay Patel, President and CEO of North Point Hospitality Group in Alpharetta, said the industry is not only growing, but thriving.
“Our hotels located in North Fulton are up around 15 percent year over year through July 31, 2015,” he said. “It is a great time to not only look at new construction development but also to reinvest back into existing hotels.”
The success, Patel said, is aided by North Fulton’s thriving corporate community, thanks in large part to the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce and its economic development team. Recent relocation announcements like Fiserv and Halyard Health attest to the region’s growth.
With that growth, he said, the need for hotel rooms continue to grow.
The area also provides amenities like the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre and Avalon which focuses weekend demand on Alpharetta hotels.
Patel said over the past year, the company has completely gutted and reinvented/renovated two of its hotels, the DoubleTree by Hilton Savannah Historic District and the Hampton Inn & Suites Alpharetta / Windward Pkwy.
“Total cost for the two renovations was $8.5 million,” he said. “Currently we have three hotels under construction in the Southeast comprising of 425 total guest rooms at a total project development cost of $81 million.”