What the Economy is Doing to OC Hotels

Reay: “Any hotel that is reasonably priced in Orange County will have multiple offers and sell very quickly.”

IRVINE, CA—The improved economy, coupled with the spike in new hotel development, means we are seeing more owners invest considerable amount of dollars toward renovation and upgrades, Atlas Hospitality Group’s president Alan Reay tells GlobeSt.com. The firm recently released its 2017 Year-End California Hotel Development Survey, which revealed that six Orange County hotels with 960 rooms opened in 2017, a 47%-room-count drop from the seven hotels with 1,808 hotels that opened in 2016.

The 271-room Marriott Irvine Spectrum was the largest hotel to open in Orange County in 2017, according to the survey. The market has eight hotels with 1,657 rooms under construction; the largest is the 613-room Westin Anaheim Resort. Orange County has 57 hotels with 11,184 rooms in planning, a 27% room-count increase over 2016.