After what the firm said was one of the toughest years for hoteliers, London hotels saw occupancy rise by 5.1% to 70.8% during December, while average room rate climbed by 2.7% to £94.73.
This pushed rooms yield up by 7.9% to £67.06, the highest monthly rooms yield improvement of the year.
Outside London, both occupancy and average room rate were showing solid growth, said PKF.
Occupancy among regional hotels rose by 2.7% to 61.0%, while average room rate was up by 1.2% to £58.66. Rooms yield rose by 4.0% to £35.80.
PKF director Robert Barnard said: “December proved to be a month of true Christmas cheer for UK hoteliers, with steady rises in both occupancy and room rate across the board and the highest rooms yield rise of the year for London.
“These good figures are particularly welcome when considering the disappointing results that hoteliers posted at the beginning of the year.
"The industry should look back with some satisfaction at ending the year on a high note and we expect there to be growing optimism for the year.
"However, January is traditionally a slow month and we expect January 2004 to be no exception, so hoteliers could still face some testing times.”
After what the firm said was one of the toughest years for hoteliers, London hotels saw occupancy rise by 5.1% to 70.8% during December, while average room rate climbed by 2.7% to £94.73.
This pushed rooms yield up by 7.9% to £67.06, the highest monthly rooms yield improvement of the year.
Outside London, both occupancy and average room rate were showing solid growth, said PKF.
Occupancy among regional hotels rose by 2.7% to 61.0%, while average room rate was up by 1.2% to £58.66. Rooms yield rose by 4.0% to £35.80.
PKF director Robert Barnard said: “December proved to be a month of true Christmas cheer for UK hoteliers, with steady rises in both occupancy and room rate across the board and the highest rooms yield rise of the year for London.
“These good figures are particularly welcome when considering the disappointing results that hoteliers posted at the beginning of the year.
"The industry should look back with some satisfaction at ending the year on a high note and we expect there to be growing optimism for the year.
"However, January is traditionally a slow month and we expect January 2004 to be no exception, so hoteliers could still face some testing times.”
