Sales of hotel properties in the county plummeted by more than 57 percent last year, the consequence of significant declines in spending by business and leisure travelers and widespread financial distress among hoteliers.
A year-end report released this week by Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality Group revealed that statewide, hotel sales fell 51 percent, in part, because hotel prices were overinflated by owners unwilling to acknowledge slumping values.
In San Diego County, there were just six hotel sales valued at $50.4 million last year, compared with 14 a year earlier, totaling nearly $145 million, Atlas reported. The median price per room paid by buyers was $64,929, down nearly 28 percent from 2008.
The largest, most expensive transaction in the county was the $28.5 million paid for the 145-room Homewood Suites in Carlsbad. The largest sale in the state was the 404-room W in San Francisco. At $90 million, it accounted for more than 17 percent of the entire California dollar volume in 2009.
Other San Diego County hotels that changed hands included:
• The 94-room Hampton Inn in Carlsbad, at $15.8 million
• The 64-room Gaslamp Plaza Suites, which did not disclose the sales price
• The 46-room Pacific Coast Inn and Suites on Mission Bay Drive, at $4.65 million
• The 35-room St. Francis Motel in El Cajon, at $1.8 million
• The 41-room Travel Inn Motel in Carlsbad, at $2.85 million
