Starwood Hotels and Resorts announced fourth-quarter net income of $339 million compared with a loss of $107 million in the fourth quarter of 2009

. Systemwide average daily rate increased 2.4 percent year over year, and occupancy increased by 4.7 percentage points to 65.8 percent. The U.S. hotel industry appears to be "on the verge of a multiyear surge in rates,"Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen said. For 2011, Starwood projects its RevPAR will continue to increase between 7 percent and 9 percent above 2010 levels. The company expects at least half of that growth to be driven by rate increases, Starwood CFO Vasant Prabhu said.