Near-Record Rates, Longer Stays Form Winning Super Bowl Strategy for LA Hotels

Hotel Programming, Food and Beverage Create Buzz

Hotels in the Los Angeles market are gearing up for the ultimate pricing power and sold-out rooms for the 2022 Super Bowl, which will be played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Feb. 13.

Hoteliers are already indicating there will be a lift in Los Angeles hotel performance ahead of the game and through the weekend.

Alan Tate, general manager of the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport, said his property, which is 28 miles from the stadium, is anticipating a sellout Monday through Sunday that week.

“The LA market as a whole is predicted to hit about 90% occupancy for Super Bowl weekend,” he said. “We are hoping to sell out the week leading into Super Bowl weekend as well Super Bowl weekend by our yield management strategy. Certainly on the weekend, we’re sold out from Thursday to Sunday.”

The Andaz West Hollywood in West Hollywood, California, is hosting celebrations and gatherings from Feb. 10-13 at its indoor and outdoor spaces for the weekend of the Big Game. The hotel is 17 miles from the stadium.

Terrance Frederick, director of sales, events and marketing at Andaz West Hollywood, said via email the hotel is 98% sold out for that weekend.

He said it’s comforting to know there will be this level of demand given the different COVID-19 variants that have caused a roller-coaster for travel.

“Our main goal is to finalize hosted corporate and/or social events happening over these days, which we are in the final stages on for a few,” he said. “Currently, we have comedy night scheduled for Wednesday/Thursday and live music Thursday/Friday.”

The backup plan is to host a tailgate on the hotel’s 30,000-square-foot third-floor parking deck and fill it will food trucks, games and more, he said.

Steve Wisner, general manager of Hilton Los Angeles Culver City, which is nine miles from the stadium, just opened up more inventory in anticipation of the busy event weekend.

“We anticipate pace to pick up as the playoff games continue,” he said via email.

The hotel is planning to roll out food and beverage specials at its newly renovated restaurant and bar, West and Co.

Wisner added that his team has been planning for the Super Boal demand over the past couple of months and has been increasing staffing levels to accommodate.

While it’s been a challenge, Tate said his property is experiencing an uptick in hiring and at least for Super Bowl weekend, “we are loaded and ready to go with our labor here.”

Driving Length of Stay

The Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport sales team has been focused on extending the length of stay for guests, which is especially important for events such as the Super Bowl that extend beyond the game day itself, Tate said.

Hotel marketing around the event has been focused on creating buzz through food and beverage offerings, he said.

Since the hotel is nearly sold out, the focus now through social media is promoting the hotel’s two restaurants — one indoor and one outdoor, both of which have a wall of large TVs. Leading up to the week of the event, playoff games will be shown to keep guests on property.

“Our chef is creating tailgate-themed food offerings, and we’re also creating a number of cocktails,” he said. “We’re really anticipating a buzz throughout the hotel the entire week.”

Frederick said most guests would ideally stay three days from Friday to Sunday, but for this event weekend the hotel is requiring a four-day stay Thursday to Sunday, allowing for revenue maximization.

Driving Rates

Data from STR, CoStar’s hospitality analytics firm, shows hotel average daily rate and revenue per available room in the Los Angeles market are expected to reach “the second-highest levels for any Super Bowl weekend on record.”

The overall market is projected to attain an ADR of $445 and a RevPAR of $396 for Feb. 11 to Feb. 13.

“This event definitely will allow the hotel industry as a whole to drive rates in each city it’s hosted. This is my third Super Bowl and it has proven to be the same in each city,” the Andaz West Hollywood’s Frederick said.

Wisner said due to the Hilton Los Angeles Culver City’s proximity to SoFi Stadium and LAX Airport, it is able to capture a higher rate during this high-demand period.

Tate said the Super Bowl will draw the highest rates the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport has achieved since the beginning of 2022. Although this Super Bowl is a week later in February than in previous years, he said guests were still booking rooms months in advance. Bookings peaked a few months ago, then slowed down once the omicron variant hit and talk of relocating the game to Dallas emerged.

“This is great news springboarding [into the new year]. The demand this is bringing to our industry is fantastic,” he added.

As seen on Hotel News Now on January 27, 2022.