According to the latest data from STR, U.S. hotel occupancy for the week of Sept. 13-19 was nearly flat from the previous week.

Occupancy for the week reached 48.6 percent, down 31.9 percent from the same week in 2019 and up only 0.1 percent from the previous week. Average daily rate was $95.84, down 28.9 percent year over year, while revenue per available room was $46.54, down 51.6 percent. Both metrics also were down from the previous week.

Demand rose slightly (up 0.3 percent), and the highest occupancy markets were once again those housing displaced residents from Hurricane Laura and the western wildfires, with California South/Central showing the highest level in the metric (74.7 percent). The Louisiana South (72.8 percent) and Louisiana North (72.3 percent) markets also were among the top five highest occupancy levels for the week.

Aggregate data for the top 25 markets showed lower occupancy (42.7 percent), but higher ADR ($98.93) than all other markets.

Four markets reached or surpassed 50 percent occupancy: Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Va.; (56.4 percent); San Diego (53.9 percent); Los Angeles/Long Beach; (53.3 percent); and Detroit (50.6 percent).

Markets with the lowest occupancy levels for the week included Oahu Island, Hawaii, at 19.7 percent and Orlando at 29.9 percent.