California Wine Country hotel occupancies dip in January

Wine Country hotel occupancies dipped in January from a year before, while the other parts of the North Bay lodging industry — Solano and Main — registered increases, according to new figures.

Sonoma County occupancy rates continued to be influenced by the aftermath of the October 2017 wildfire, which for months afterward increased demand for rooms. Last January, the county’s occupancy rate was 72.8 percent, dipping 16.1 percent over 12 months to 61.1 percent, according to figures released Wednesday by travel data firm STR.

Not the same for Napa County, where the fires caused steep declines in occupancy rates for months. Comparing the January 2018 occupancy rate to last month, the county lodging industry saw a 1.9 percent decline, to 56.3 percent.

Meanwhile in Marin and Solano counties, occupancy rates inched up in January, by 4.6 percent in Marin, to 66.1 percent, and by 3.1 percent in Solano, to 58.9 percent.

Revenues for all four counties continued to be ahead of last January, with increases in double digits in Marin and Sonoma and single-digit jumps in Napa and Solano counties.

Average room rates for January ranged from $88.32 per night in Solano to $235.36 in Napa.