December 23, 2013 – Orange County Business Journal

By Kari Hamananka

It should be a healthy year for Orange County hotels.

Occupancy is already running strong here, and industry researcher PKF Consulting USA LLC is looking for average room rates to grow between 4% and 5% next year.

“Overall, the market should be good,” said PKF Senior Vice President Bruce Baltin, in the firm’s Los Angeles office. “The market’s running at capacity in occupancy, and so there should be revenue growth next year.”

OC’s supply grew this year after the dry spell of the recession.

R.D. Olson Construction’s 149-room Residence Inn & Suites and 145-room Fairfield Inn & Suites both opened this summer at the developer’s mixed-use project, the Tustin Pacific Center.

Two SpringHill Suites—a 172-room property and a 120-room property—are expected to open in the summer in Anaheim. Olson will add a 210-room Courtyard by Marriott in the Irvine Spectrum about the same time. Those will be followed by a 178-room Hyatt Place Anaheim Resort toward year’s end.