A happy surprise came today from the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority. Washoe County hotels have made a strong comeback this year, according to new numbers.
Hotels were up against a lot this year. The brutal dry spell quashed winter's biggest draw…skiers. And no Safari Club International convention…that moved on to Las Vegas. But at places like Grand Sierra Resort, they're counting money and filling rooms. The hotel's Christopher Abraham told us, "I think we're in line with the market increase. We've had a very good month."
The market increase is this: according to the RSCVA, January taxable hotel revenues jumped 32.5% from the year before. That's the highest recorded by the RSCVA for hotels in Reno, Sparks and North Lake Tahoe for the first month of each year, and the biggest year-over-year growth of taxable revenue in a non-Safari Club year since 2008. On top of that, average room rate charged grew by $9.06 a night…a 12% increase over last year.
It's no fluke…December 2014 was also strong, with taxable hotel room revenues up 10% over December 2013. The RSCVA's Christopher Baum calls it a record-setting performance. He told us, "It's an incredible performance for our hotels. All 30 hotels we track individually, we're up this year."
There's also a big Chinese New Year. The weather has made it easy for travelers, and with the stock market up and unemployment down, folks feel free to spend. At GSR, Abraham told us, "The increase in business has given us confidence to reinvest back into the property, so we're investing in the theatre, the nightclub, the rooms, the restaurants. We feel very confident we'll get a return on that investment."
If ever there's a poster boy for increased hotel demand, it's the new Marriott Courtyard hotel being built downtown on east Second Street. It was scuttled years ago…but is becoming a reality now with its groundbreaking 2 weeks ago. Its 135 rooms will open by Spring next year. Basin Street Properties project manager David Mieding told us, "This will be the first flag non-gaming, non-smoking hotel in downtown."
Mieding added, “Since the low point of the recession there's been a 25% increase in room demand, while we've seen only a 5.6% increase in available rooms. So, the demand is there."
Visitors there will pay more than the typical low ball rates downtown...but Baum says Reno needs to stop selling itself cheap, and charge more to keep up with other cities. As he put it, “We're leaving money on the table. People are used to paying 5-6% more a year on hotels from coast to coast. There's no reason we can't join that increase."
So what's ahead? There's cautious optimism. Maybe by the end of the month the snow machine will get ski season going for March. And they expect full hotels from festival season, from Street Vibrations to Hot August Nights. But so far, the drought is over for hotel bookings here for 2015.
