How expensive were hotels for Super Bowl?

Finding hotels for Super Bowl weekend was nearly impossible and absolutely budget breaking.

According to STR, which tracks data on hotels and lodging, metro Phoenix had the most expensive hotels in the continental U.S. on the Saturday and Sunday of Super Bowl week, with daily room rates averaging $544.53 on Feb. 11 and $532.31 on Feb. 12, according to STR. Maui, Hawaii was the only U.S. market with higher average room rates on those days.

Phoenix also led the nation in occupancy at 85.4%, as well as in revenue per available room at $454.72 on Feb. 12.

Metro Phoenix experienced a surge in hotel bookings for the 2023 Super Bowl, played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, as well as bookings for those attending the WM Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale.

STR found 98 metro Phoenix hotels, about 25% of area hotels that reported data, averaged rates from $500 to $999 per night. Twenty-two hotels had daily rates at $1,000 or more per night.

Average weekend room rates representing the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the Super Bowl far exceeded the 2021 game in Tampa ($284 per night) and the 2022 game in Los Angeles ($397 per night).

Of the last 10 Super Bowls, according to STR, only Miami during the 2020 Super Bowl had higher rates, $21 above the weekend average Phoenix experienced this year.

Occupancy peaked on Feb. 11, the Saturday before the Super Bowl, with 89.1% of Phoenix hotel rooms occupied. It was the second highest occupancy rate in U.S. that day behind the Florida Keys. On Sunday, Phoenix had the highest occupancy in the nation at 85.4%

Nearly half of all hotels in the region — 173 out of 399 — experienced occupancy at or above 95% on Friday and Saturday nights. And 72 of those hotels were sold out.

The Friday-Saturday-Sunday average of 86.9% fell below STR’s initial forecast, though it was still the fourth highest of the last 10 years and outperformed Tampa in 2021 (82.8%) and Los Angeles in 2022 (79.3%).

The highest occupancy ever? 93.7% in 2015, during Arizona’s previous Super Bowl.

The occupancy percentage may have been lower than 2015, but metro Phoenix has more hotel rooms today than it did in 2015, including several new hotels in the West Valley like the Aloft Hotel and Tru by Hilton that opened in Glendale’s Westgate Entertainment District, located less than a mile from State Farm Stadium.

Metro Phoenix had an inventory of more than 70,000 hotel rooms for the 2023 Super Bowl, compared to more than 63,000 in 2015, according to STR, which credited the new hotels with the growth of nearly 3% in room sales during the 2023 Super Bowl compared to 2015.

And hotel supply gains are expected to continue in the coming years, perhaps in anticipation of future Super Bowls. The upcoming 1,200-room VAI Resort, across the street from State Farm Stadium at Cardinals Way and North 95th Avenue, is expected to debut in 2024.

Analysts think that during the 2023 Super Bowl, metro Phoenix benefited even more greatly thanks to ancillary events and festivities, which were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2021 game in Tampa and 2022 game in Los Angeles.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego credited downtown events like the Super Bowl Experience at the Phoenix Convention Center and Margaret T. Hance Park, as well as the NFL’s first official Super Bowl watch party, also held at Hance Park, with driving record transit ridership in the city.

Feb. 13, the day after the Super Bowl, was the busiest day ever for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Scottsdale’s tourism marketing agency, Experience Scottsdale, cited the Historic Old Town Main Street Tailgate broadcast by ESPN and numerous parties throughout the week for contributing to its high room rates and occupancy. According to STR, Scottsdale hotels averaged 92.5% occupancy, $922.98 average daily rate and $854.01 revenue per available room — all higher than the average for metro Phoenix.

Besides being more scaled back because of the pandemic, the 2021 and 2022 Super Bowls both had the disadvantage of having only one visiting team. The host cities’ home teams — the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 and Los Angeles Rams in 2022 — advanced to (and won) those Super Bowls.

Phoenix attracted out-of-state fans of both teams in this year’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.