Atlas in the news

The forecast for San Diego’s tourism industry in 2015 is bright with a few clouds. The sunny outlook for the year was presented March 20 at Carmel Valley’s R.A. Rauch and Associates’ annual lodging industry event, “An Extraordinary Year Ahead,” at the Hilton Garden Inn in Torrey Hills. The event featured a discussion moderated by Gary London from The London Group Realty Advisors with two experts in the hotel sector: longtime Carmel Valley resident Robert Rauch of R.A. Rauch, and Alan Reay from Atlas Hospitality Group, a specialist in capital markets and a leading hotel industry adviser. “I think this is going to be the best year we’ve ever had in the U.S.,” Rauch said. San Diego finished 2014 at 74.6 percent occupancy, higher than the national average, and is forecast to surpass 75 percent this year. Rauch said they had a record year at his Hilton Garden Inn and at Homewood Suites next door. Many attendees at the forecast event were interested in learning more about the impact of Airbnb, an online vacation rental platform, in which rooms and in some cases entire houses are rented by the night in residential communities by the homeowner. A quick search for…

the latest breed of hotel, rooms are up to one-third smaller than traditional quarters, with furniture that looks fresh from an Ikea showroom. The work desk is downsized and might double as a nightstand. The Internet speed is super fast. The Wi-Fi is free. Power outlets and USB ports dot the walls, especially near the bed to accommodate binge watching. The target is the millennial traveler, ages 18 to 34, who likes to stay connected online, eat on the run and commune with other millennials. Hotel giants, including Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide, are launching brands with names such as Moxy, AC, Edition, CitizenM and Canopy. Even billionaire Sir Richard Branson has a new millennial-oriented chain, dubbed Virgin Hotels. For good reason: Millennials number more than 75 million in the U.S., and this year the Census Bureau projects they will surpass baby boomers as the nation’s largest generation.Plus, they have money to blow. U.S. millennials plan to spend about $226 billion this year on travel, according to a Harris Poll survey. “I think it’s definitely a smart move,” said hotel consultant Alan Reay of Atlas Hospitality Group in Costa Mesa. “It’s a huge market.” Creating a millennial hotel means tossing…

San Diego hotel guru Robert Rauch predicted Friday that 2015 will turn out to be the best year for the hotel industry in San Diego and nationwide. “This is going to be the best year that the hotel industry ever had in the United states by a wide margin,” said Rauch, a hospitality professor and hotel developer. “I’m very bullish on 2015 and 2016.” He said occupancy rates nationally are at a record 65 percent — and even higher in San Diego at 75.5 percent — allowing hotel operators to raise rates. San Diego hotel guru Robert Rauch. “When you get occupancy levels up at a certain point, you raise rates. Now is the time to raise rates,” he explained. Rauch spoke to some 100 hotel operators and suppliers at an annual forecast conference in Carmel Valley organized by his firm R.A. Rauch & Associates. Rauch said strong markets in San Diego include downtown, the Interstate 5 and 15 corridors, and Mission Valley. “Conventions are back. Small conferences are back. There much more corporate travel,” he said. Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group, also spoke at the conference and cautioned that hotel property values in some markets were dangerously high. “There is…