D.C. Hotels Have Slumped During Government Shutdown

A prolonged U.S. government shutdown has dealt another blow to Washington, D.C.’s hotel sector, already facing weak business travel and a National Guard deployment since August 11.

Hotel performance metrics from CoStar showed demand — measured by rooms sold — trending 4% to 6% below last year's levels.

Occupancy for hotels in the broad Washington, D.C. metro area progressively declined since the summer. It was down 3.9% in July; 5.2% in August; 5.8% in September; and 6.2% between October 1 and 25.

Occupancy Slides Sharply Downtown

It's been even worse in the city's central business district, where many high-end hotels are located: Occupancy