STR Global, the leading service provider of market information to the hotel industry, reports that London hotels from 27 July until 29 July 2012 achieved 84.4 percent occupancy and £224.72 average room rates.
“Hotel performance is strong, London hotels are busy. Some but not all are full; there is room in the inn but overall hotels are in a good position”, commented Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global.
Historically, Olympic host cities do not sell out, Randall said. Reviewing hotel performance over the past four summer games, back to 1996 in Atlanta, none of the host cities’ occupancy surpassed 90 percent for the months in which the Olympics occurred, according to STR Global.
“During a normal period, hoteliers are able to anticipate demand based on known trends and can therefore plan for short-notice demand to supplement cancellations and no-shows”, Randall said. “When an international event comes to town, these variables are more difficult to control or predict.”
Occupancy has been trailing behind last year for most of June and July. Recent days’ occupancy achieved around 85 percent.
The Docklands/Greenwich submarket achieved the highest occupancy for the Olympic period through 29 July with 94.9 percent, followed by the West End with 89.0 percent.
Knightsbridge/Pimlico/Victoria achieved the highest ADR for the Olympic period through 29 July with £399.20, followed by the West End with £329.27.
Olympic Period (27-29 July)
| London submarkets | Occupancy (%) | ADR (£) | RevPAR (£) |
| 27-29 Jul | 27-29 Jul | 27-29 Jul | |
| London overall | 84.4 | 224.46 | 189.51 |
| Docklands/Greenwich* | 94.9 | 138.99 | 131.90 |
| Earls Court/
Kensington/Chelsea* |
83.2 | 232.46 | 193.52 |
| Knightsbridge/Pimlico/
Victoria |
87.3 | 399.20 | 348.52 |
| London North/Camden* | 84.6 | 212.32 | 179.67 |
| London South | 86.4 | 178.48 | 154.24 |
| London West End* | 89.0 | 329.27 | 293.07 |
| Outer London* | 75.3 | 106.02 | 79.82 |
| Paddington/Bayswater | 85.2 | 172.08 | 146.68 |
| The City/Shoreditch | 80.5 | 157.91 | 127.09 |
Data was extracted on 31 July at 11 am (*location of Olympic venues)
Rolling-28 days to 29 July 2012
| London submarkets | Occupancy | Average Room Rate | RevPAR |
| London overall | 81.0 | 166.83 | 135.11 |
| Docklands/Greenwich* | 84.9 | 104.58 | 88.76 |
| Earls Court/
Kensington/Chelsea* |
77.9 | 163.81 | 127.62 |
| Knightsbridge/Pimlico/Victoria | 80.7 | 283.71 | 228.92 |
| London North/Camden* | 81.0 | 150.78 | 122.18 |
| London South | 85.0 | 143.04 | 121.61 |
| London West End* | 79.3 | 259.00 | 205.49 |
| Outer London* | 81.4 | 75.90 | 61.75 |
| Paddington/Bayswater | 84.5 | 140.85 | 119.00 |
| The City/Shoreditch | 80.3 | 122.68 | 98.53 |
Data was extracted on 31 July at 11 am
About STR Global:
STR Global provides clients—including hotel operators, developers, financiers, analysts and suppliers to the hotel industry—access to hotel research with regular and custom reports covering Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia/Pacific and South America. STR Global provides a single source of global hotel data covering daily and monthly performance data, segmentation data, forecasts, annual profitability, pipeline and census information. Hotel operators can join the surveys on a complimentary basis and benefit from free industry data. www.strglobal.com.