Tips and strategies for business travelers to use to take advantage of the sorry state of the U.S. hotel market.
Here's the good news: Savvy business travelers can ride the lodging industry's train wreck to substantial savings.
Confirmation of the sorry state of hotel properties came last week from Fitch Ratings, which tracks the delinquency rate of commercial mortgage backed securities. A surge in hotel defaults in September means that the lodging sector now has a higher rate of late pays on mortgages (5.83 percent) than multifamily homes (5.72 percent), retail (3.65 percent), industrial (2.96 percent), or office (1.97 percent) properties. Worse, Fitch says it expects "hotel property values will decline by as much as 50 percent" and believes lodging delinquencies will eventually be "approximately double that of the other property types."
Of course, Fitch didn't tell us traveling business types anything we didn't already know anecdotally. After all, it's impossible not to notice that our nightly hotel tabs have plummeted recently. Depending on our destination and the type of lodging we favor, rates have dropped by 30 to 50 percent and individual properties are courting us with bonus meals, free room nights, and everything from complimentary spa services to insanely rich bonuses in our frequent-guest programs.
Yet buying hotels when things are rotten is often more challenging than when the travel industry is riding high. And the rules of engagement are certainly different. Consider the following a road warrior's guide to getting the best hotel room at the lowest price right now. No one knows for sure what next year or next month-or even next week-will bring.
Less Is, Well, Less
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Source - Portfolio.com
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