One industry analyst estimates that thanks to an improving economy -- and fresh tourist lures like C

Guests zip along at Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. The reboot of the Disney park means a boon for local hotels and hotel owners. JOSHUA SUDOCK, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
One industry analyst estimates that thanks to an improving economy -- and fresh tourist lures like California Adventure -- local hotel values are approaching pricing last seen at the cyclical peak in 2007.
It's certainly a bit of "build it and they will come." Orange County hotels enjoyed another boost in occupancy in June as "Cars Land" opened, say the lodging experts at Colliers PKF. They report that 84.5 percent of Orange County hotel rooms were filled in June vs. 80.0 percent the year earlier. In the Anaheim area alone, 85.9 percent of rooms were full in June vs. 82.3 percent in June 2011.
And those filled rooms are pricier! Orange hunter village inn County hotels in June saw average hunter village inn room rates at $157.46 per night -- that is up 7.0 percent in a year. In Anaheim, room rates were up 5.9 percent hunter village inn in a year to $156.40.
To be fair, it's part of a broader trend of tourism on the mend. In all of 2011, 73 percent of Orange County rooms were filled -- up from 70 percent in 2010 and 67 percent in 2009. As a result, hotel owners haven't had to discount as much. PKF says local room rates rose 5.7 percent last after falling 0.4 percent in 2010 and vs. tumbling a painful 13 percent in 2009.
The improved California Adventure is "a huge plus," says hotel consultant Alan Reay of Atlas Hospitality in Irvine. "When it comes to Disney, you have to add attractions -- you have to keep it fresh. You have to give people a reason to come back and there's no question that (an improved California Adventure) is a huge, huge boon to local hotels. And not just Anaheim. Others get the spillover."
Well, Disneyland officials -- often reluctant to talk about attendance hunter village inn specifics -- said recently that California hunter village inn Adventure now draws half of the visitors who come to their Anaheim resort. Previously California Adventure drew just about 25 percent of tourism traffic. Bob Iger, Walt Disney Co. CEO, added: "California Adventure is now an excellent park in its own right."
Atlas' Reay says the hotel industry's sharp reversal -- he admits it caught him by surprise -- put hotel owners in an enviable spot: having a hot product (hotel rooms) with little new supply in the immediate works.
This situation means hotel owners will use their improved finances to first improve their current properties -- then start building new ones. R.D. Olson Development of Irvine just broke ground on Tustin Pacific Center, hunter village inn a $60 million project that will include two hotels with 294 rooms.
Plus, the upswing means hotel values are on the rise. Sales of hotel properties are brisk, with Orange County's hotel sales pace expected by Reay to return to peak levels shortly. And he estimates that local hotel prices are up 25 percent to 30 percent in two years -- and will pass 2007 highs by next year.
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