The PKF Consulting report on hotel trends for January 2007 showed an 8.7 percent increase in room rates throughout Northern California compared with January 2006.  Mild weather during the month helped The East Bay’s average daily room to climb to $113.27 in January 2007 - a 7.6 percent increase over January 2006.  Hotels throughout northern California saw year-over-year increases in room rates in January 2007, with hotels in Napa seeing a 21.8 percent increase in room rates over January 2006.

The East Bay’s Average Daily Room Rate remained steady in January 2007, experiencing an increase following the seasonal drop in rates during the holiday season – a trend also found in similar business-travel markets such as the San Francisco Airport and San Jose/Peninsula regions.  Room rates in the Napa market continued to fall following the record-setting highs set in October 2006.  This pattern in the region’s room rates is seasonal in a market catering primarily to tourists, such as Napa.  In San Francisco, a market which caters to tourists and business travelers alike, rates bounced back in January following the holiday downturn, and were 6.5 percent higher than January 2006.

Hotel occupancy rates were a mixed bag in January 2007.  The East Bay and San Jose regions experienced steep increased occupancy over December 2006, while the Napa, San Francisco and San Francisco Airport markets all experienced decreased occupancy.  Napa’s decrease can be attributed to the seasonal downturn, and though fairly sharp, the region’s decrease following the annual peak season of September-October was less severe than between October 2005 and January 2006.  The decreases in the San Francisco and San Francisco Airport markets during the late fall and early winter months can be attributed to severe weather in other parts of the country, limiting travel to popular Winter destinations, as well as to the seasonal holiday downturn.