by Robert Rauch | Oct 20, 2026 | Featured, Top 10 Annual Trends
This article was first published by CoStar on October 6, 2026, written by Robert Rauch. Rev per available room is rising, but it’s not flowing through the profit and loss statement the way owners need. In 2025, total hotel operating revenue grew 2.6% while expenses...
by Robert Rauch | Oct 19, 2026 | Featured, Food & Beverage, Forecasts, Hotel Management
Optimism permeated The Lodging Conference this year, despite rising interest rates, persistent inflation, and geopolitical uncertainty. Industry leaders who spoke in Phoenix acknowledged the challenges ahead but remain confident in the lodging sector’s resilience and...
by Robert Rauch | Oct 19, 2026 | Featured, Forecasts
The U.S. economy has entered what Bernie Baumohl calls a “new regime,” and it’s one that matters directly to hotel owners and operators. Baumohl, chief global economist at The Economic Outlook Group, delivered his outlook at The Lodging Conference 2026 in Phoenix....
by Robert Rauch | Oct 19, 2026 | Featured, Monthly Market Reports, San Diego
September was one of California’s strongest months all year, and I think it is also the clearest warning. All five California markets I track grew RevPAR by double digits, the first month this year that has happened. Booking costs rose in every one of them, and...
by Robert Rauch | Sep 29, 2026 | Featured, HR
Tech, workforce expectations, guest demands and the regulatory environment fuel changes First published on CoStar on September 2nd, 2026 Human resources (HR) departments have had to adapt to change by reshaping recruitment strategies, employee engagement practices and...
by Robert Rauch | Sep 29, 2026 | Featured, Revenue Management
How to Cut Costs Without Cutting Service The most expensive line on many hotel P&Ls is one that owners rarely look at in dollars: what OTAs actually cost in 2026. Commissions tend to run 15 to 25 percent of the room rate, while a direct booking usually costs a...
by Robert Rauch | Sep 29, 2026 | Featured, Industry Insights, Monthly Market Reports
The question I kept hearing in July was what Los Angeles would look like once the World Cup crowds went home. August gave a fair answer. RevPAR came in at $162.69, up 7.0% from $152.00 a year ago, with no tournament to lean on. That is a step down from the 11% to 12%...
by Robert Rauch | Sep 29, 2026 | Featured, Monthly Market Reports, San Diego
Forecast & Market Update for San Diego | September 2026 August is usually the month when a San Diego summer shows whether it had real legs. This year it did. County RevPAR reached $177.00, up 7.1% from about $165 last August, and the growth came from both rate and...
by Robert Rauch | Sep 28, 2026 | Featured, Hotel Management
A hotel management agreement looks simple on the surface. Most first-time owners I meet describe it as a base fee, an incentive fee, a term, and a few pages of legal language. Anyone who has negotiated a few of these knows that the fine print decides whether an...
by Robert Rauch | Aug 25, 2026 | Featured, Forecasts
US hotel RevPAR is pacing toward 5% growth in 2026. I don’t see a reason it can’t hit 4% in 2027, split roughly between 1% occupancy growth and 3% average rate growth. That puts me ahead of where most of the big forecasters sit right now, so let me walk...