Weekday vs weekend: where a month is won or lost

Splitting occupancy, ADR and RevPAR into weekday and weekend nights shows where a month was won or lost. Weekend nights are usually Friday and Saturday night. In a city hotel they often fill first and at higher rates, while weekdays depend more on business travel, groups and events.

Which nights count as weekend

A night belongs to the date the guest arrives for that night: a stay from Friday to Sunday is a Friday night and a Saturday night. The weekend is usually Friday and Saturday night. Sunday night tends to behave like a weekday.

A worked example

Example figures for a 30-day month with four weekends. Weekday revenue €79,200, weekend €53,200; 964 of 1,200 room nights sold.

The month average of 80.3% hides two different stories: the weekends were almost full, and a quarter of the weekday rooms stayed empty.

What the split tells you

• Weekends full, weekend rate close to weekdays: there is room to ask more on Friday and Saturday
• Weekdays weak, weekends strong: look at business travel, groups and events before lowering rates
• Both behind last year: look at demand in the city and at how visible you are on your channels

Minimum stay: check the result

A two-night minimum on Saturday can protect your Friday and Saturday stays, but it can also leave Saturday nights empty when guests only want one night. Check afterwards, per night, whether the restriction filled the weekend or blocked it.

Compare like with like

A month can have four or five weekends, so comparing a whole month with last year can flatter or punish it. For weeks, compare 364 days back so a Saturday meets a Saturday; for months, compare the weekday and weekend figures separately.

RevView shows occupancy and ADR for weekday and weekend nights in every month, and every single night on the calendar.