Another Anecdotal Price Inflation Indication: Ritzy Hotel Prices Soar

The money is flowing to the banksters and they are out travelling and spending again. The latest evidence comes from Orange County.

Jonathan Lansner and Jeff Collins report:

 Big and pricey. That was the winning formula for Orange County hotel owners in 2011.
According to year-end data from the hotel trackers at PKF, the biggest gains in room rates and occupancy — and the resulting largest gains in key industry cash-flow measure “RevPar” which mixes rates and occupancy performance — were in market niches largely represented by the biggest and priciest hotels in Orange County. 

Nightly rates at hotels with 300 or more rooms averaged a gain last year of 6.8% vs. 2010 — largest advance among the room sized tracked by PKF. Occupancy last year at these big hotels ran 72.3% vs. 69.7% in 2010 — up 2.6 percentage points in a year. “RevPar” was up 10.8%, also the best among the groupings tracked.

Be prepared, as the Bernanke money works its way through the system, 6.8% price increases will not only be a feature of high priced hotel rooms.