Starwood Hotels & Resorts posted a fourth quarter 2009 net loss of $107 million compared with a $79 million profit the year before

. Average daily rate during the quarter dropped 8.3 percent to $164.02 and occupancy climbed 0.7 points to 61.9 percent--driven mostly by corporate weekday demand, which grew 6 percent to 7 percent in December and January, according to Starwood CFO Vasant Prabhu. This year’s corporate negotiated rates came in at flat to slightly down "ending better than we might have expected a few months ago," Prabhu said. "We are hearing from our corporate customers that cuts in travel are behind them and companies want to get their people back on the road drumming up business and motivating their teams." Group bookings picked up slightly for 2010 and 2011. In the fourth quarter, group volume was up 15 percent and cancellations were down 50 percent, signaling the "return of the business traveler," according to Prabhu.