02 March 2010

Luxury hotels may never come back

Luxury hotels with $1,000-a-night room rates and extravagant Caribbean resorts may face a tougher recovery than the rest of the industry, according to Marriott International Inc.
 

"The most over-the-top excesses will probably be a long time -- if ever-- coming back," Marriott President Arne Sorenson said at a conference.
 

He drew a distinction between these hotels and the typical Ritz-Carlton luxury hotels the company operates.
 

Marriott's other brands include its namesake properties and Courtyards.
 

Sorenson added that some projects in the Caribbean, which tend to be smaller and draw locals, "may never come back" because they rely on the kind of lavish conspicuous consumption that has gone out of vogue with travelers, reported the AP.
 

Of all hotels, luxury properties were the hardest hit last year. While rates sank nearly 9 percent for the U.S. industry, luxury hotels saw their rates tumble more than 16 percent, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
 

By David Wilkening
 

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