About 200 of New York City’s 700 hotels are still closed, and those that are accepting guests have slashed room rates by an average of more than 60 percent, according to Al Jazeera.
Most also have curtailed services, such as ending room service after breakfast and limiting concierges’ hours.
October is usually a high-traffic month for the inns, but the month’s usual events such as Fashion Week and the NYC Marathon, which would have drawn thousands of visitors, have been canceled.
Occupancy rates in the city’s hotels have fallen below 40 percent, with the average daily room renting for $135. In October 2019, occupancy was 92 percent and the average room night cost $336, reported real estate research firm Green Street.
However, many hotels have stopped reporting their data.
“The true hotel occupancy is less than 10 percent,” Vijay Dandapani, CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, told Zero Hedge. “Hotels have theoretically been able to be open, but in many cases it’s pointless.”
TREND FORECAST: The hotel slump will continue through the rest of this year and only begin to regain strength when a vaccination is invented. Until a population that is currently ravaged in masks and social distancing feels “safe,” we forecast that over a quarter of the city’s hotels will close permanently.
And, as with other industries, the Bigs will be buying out the smalls that are going broke and going bust.
