Hotel Rates Up 12%

It cost about 12% more last year to stay in an Orange County hotel, even though occupancy rates dipped slightly to 73.5% overall, according to a new survey.

The average daily hotel rate increased to $94.62 from $84.56 a year ago, PKF Consulting, a Los Angeles-based firm, found.

Occupancy rates fell less than 1%. The firm cited Disneyland’s Light Magic Parade, which failed to generate larger crowds, as a key reason for the decline.

For this year, PKF said it expects average room rates and occupancy to increase because of low unemployment, growth in the Irvine Spectrum area, Disneyland’s renovated Tomorrowland section and expanded housing construction.

The firm also noted that few new hotels are being built.