The U.S. extended-stay lodging sector set more than a dozen
performance records in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the Highland
Group, with hotels notching double-digit percentage gains year over year in key metrics.
Total fourth-quarter revenue for the segment increased by
50.9 percent year over year to nearly $3.9 billion. Occupancy increased 15.7
percent to 72.8 percent, average daily rate was up 25.7 percent to $103.26 and revenue
per available room spiked 45 percent to $75.16, compared to the fourth quarter
of 2020.
Compared to What?
Some may consider 2020 too easy a comparison—like shooting
fish in a barrel. The Highland Group partner Mark Skinner in a statement acknowledged,
“Comparisons with 2021 data will make new performance records harder to achieve
in 2022 than in 2021, which was compared to 2020.”
But 2021’s fourth-quarter numbers also stack up well to the
same quarter in 2019. RevPAR edged out the fourth-quarter 2019 figure of $74.04
by about 2 percent and ADR at beat 2019's Q4 figure of $101.39 by a similar
margin. Fourth-quarter 2021 occupancy rate percent was just shy of 2019's 73
percent.
Several hotel companies are lauding their own extended stay
results and doubling down on development in the category. A Red Roof spokesperson
told BTN its extended stay brand HomeTowne Studios achieved a 22.6 percent ADR
increase for full year 2021. Home2 Suites is among Hilton's fastest-growing
brands with 437 properties in development in the United States. In 2021,
extended stay accounted for 37 percent of Marriott's room signings in the U.S.
and Canada.
At the same time, investment groups are grabbing extended
stay inventory. Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Starwood Capital Group last
year bought
the Extended Stay America brand, and the same group just threw down $1.5
billion to acquire 111 WoodSpring Suites properties from Brookfield Asset Management,
the Wall
Street Journal reported
last month. WoodSpring is Choice Hotels' extended-stay brand.