D.C.’s Trump International Hotel has been under the microscope since Donald Trump was elected President, and now the hotel’s finances have been revealed by The Washington Post.
The Trump Organization, which manages all of Donald Trump’s hotels, projected the hotel at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW would lose $2.1 million during the first four months of 2017, but it actually turned a $1.97 million profit.
According to the article, “The $4.1 million swing from projected losses to profitability represents a 192 percent improvement over what the Trump family planned to make when the company opened the hotel in the fall.”
Some of the reasons why the hotel is overperforming are its high prices on guestrooms and suites as well as high prices in the hotel’s restaurants and bars.
On food and drinks, visitors spent $8.2 million, beating expectations by 37.2 percent. The average price for a night at the Trump International Hotel was $652.98, beating expectations by 57 percent.
With this number, The Washington Post speculated that the Trump International Hotel might be the most expensive hotel in Washington, D.C., beating out The Hay-Adams and Four Seasons, which average $495 per night.
While the hotel has overperformed, The Washington Post reported that a large portion of the hotel’s rooms tend to be empty. The occupancy rate averaged 42.3 percent, compared with nearly 70 percent in the industry.
To come up with these numbers, The Washington Post researched General Services Administration (GSA) documents and other newly released federal documents. After the GSA released the documents, the organization, which manages public buildings such as the Trump International Hotel, said that it should not have publicly published information on the hotel’s profitability.
GSA spokeswoman Panela Dixon told the Washington Examiner, "The documents were posted inadvertently and have been removed from the website."
This past June, Fortune reported that the hotel saw almost $20 million in revenue during its first few months of operation. In January, Bisnow also reported that the hotel underperformed the first two months after opening. In September and October 2016, the hotel lost $1.2 million in revenue after anticipating earning $397,000 in its first two months of operation.
According to Bisnow, “During that period, the hotel brought in just over $4 [million] in revenue, $2.3 [million] below its expectations.”
• Trump D.C. hotel turns $2 million profit in four months [The Washington Post]
• Federal government takes down data on Trump's DC hotel [Washington Examiner]
• Trump’s Washington Hotel Saw Almost $20 Million in Revenue [Fortune]
• Trump’s D.C. hotel lost more than $1M in the first two months [Bisnow]
• Trump DC Hotel Finances Are Under the Microscope [Curbed DC]
• Trump's D.C. hotel underperformed after opening last year [Curbed DC]