The official tally is in and the numbers confirm that 2007 was a very good year to be running a hotel in Center City and across the region. If you were on the other end of the equation, paying for hotel rooms, of course, you may not be quite as pleased.
According to data compiled by Smith Travel Research and vetted by PKF Consulting in Philadelphia, Center City hotels had an occupancy rate of 73.6 percent, a fraction above 2006 and the best year since 1997. But the demand was strong enough that hoteliers were able to push up their average daily rate to record territory: $156.56, a 7.3 percent increase compared with 2006.
Throughout the metro area, occupancy wasn't as strong, finishing at 68.8 percent in 2007, compared with 69.4 percent the year before. Demand was healthy enough, though, for the average daily rate to climb 6.7 percent, to $119.14 from $111.71.
