Detroit's hotel occupancy rate has declined faster than any other city in America

[Irvine Laird]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1238...cle-outset-box

My concern while reading this story from the Wall Street Journal is that fact that hotel occupancy is down 19 percent--the steepest decline in the nation's top 25 hotel markets.

What will it take to keep our new hotels in business?

[DetroitPlanner]

Thats hardly surprising when you consider that downtown added the Motor City, Book Cadillac, Doubletree, and Greektown Hotels within the last year. Depending upon when the survey was done, you mmight even be able to add MGM Grand into the mix. No other City has been adding hotel rooms like that, not even Vega$!

Thats not to say we won't have problems filling these rooms in the future, here is hoping for a strong turn around in the economy. I can recall when Kwame renegotiated these Casino deals and cut the rooms in half, I thought he was Jack trading the cow for magic beans. Now I guess it appears to be the right thing to do.

[iheartthed]

Thats hardly surprising when you consider that downtown added the Motor City, Book Cadillac, Doubletree, and Greektown Hotels within the last year. Depending upon when the survey was done, you mmight even be able to add MGM Grand into the mix. No other City has been adding hotel rooms like that, not even Vega$!

Thats not to say we won't have problems filling these rooms in the future, here is hoping for a strong turn around in the economy. I can recall when Kwame renegotiated these Casino deals and cut the rooms in half, I thought he was Jack trading the cow for magic beans. Now I guess it appears to be the right thing to do.

That's because no other major city was so devoid of hotel space in their respective downtowns.

I think the drop in hotel occupancy rates is probably due to the steep drop in business related travel to the Detroit area over the past year. If that is the case, then this would be affecting the suburban hotels more than the hotels downtown because business travelers were the people supporting the suburban hotels. Downtown hotels are aimed at attracting business from convention attendees, so their success depends on the amount of conventions that Detroit can attract.

[HazenPingree]

Depending on how the calculation worked out like this.

If you had 1000 hotel rooms and 500 nightly guests in 2000, and 3000 hotel rooms and 700 nightly guests in 2009, that is terrible on a percentage basis, but does not necessarily mean that our ACTUAL occupancy has declined.

[401don]

Nothing we weren't all expecting but if this doesn't scream out for a renovated Cobo nothing does.