Hotel rates in London and the rest of the UK increased slightly in January as room occupancies fell across the country.
Room rates in London’s properties rose by just 0.2 per cent to an average of £112.49 last month, according to research from PKF Hotel Consultancy Services.
Occupancy in London declined by 4.2 percentage points to 67.8 per cent in January compared to 72 per cent in January 2012. Revpar fell by 5.6 per cent to £76.31.
Hotel rates outside the capital rose 1.7 per cent year-on-year to £53.33 for the month while occupancy fell by 0.9 percentage points to 56.2 per cent. Revpar was flat for the UK’s regional hotels at £29.96 compared to the same month last year.
Robert Barnard, PKF’s partner for hotel consultancy services, said: “The poor weather that much of the country experienced in January appears to have hit occupancy, and there’s very little that operators can do in the circumstances.
“The timing of the new year bank holiday didn’t help either, and effectively meant that the corporate market didn’t restart until the second week of January.
“January is traditionally a quiet month so these results are unlikely to be make or break for hoteliers. However, with the economy likely to remain fragile for the foreseeable future, the industry needs all the help it can get at the moment.”