Paying More for Rooms

Demand for U.S. hotel rooms is high, which is bringing some bad news for consumers, according to PKF Consulting, a real estate and hospitality consulting firm based in New York. It is forecasting that the average daily room rate for major cities will break $100 in 1997 for the first time--rising to $102.28 from $97.56 in 1996.

The forecast is based on a survey of 3,000 hotels in 42 major U.S. cities.