A look at hotel rates and occupancy in areas around the Eaton and Palisades fires

Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed by the Eaton and Palisades fires, and many of those who evacuated their homes were forced to flee to nearby hotels.

In the first five days of the fires, hotel occupancy rose 30% in Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank near the Eaton Fire, according to new data from the CoStar group, which owns Apartments.com and Homes.com.

"We have 1,587 households checked in to hotels throughout the L.A. County area," said Robert Fenton Jr., Regional Administrator for FEMA, during a press conference last week. "Because this is a dynamic event and that focus of hotels is those who have had to evacuate and those who have been displaced, this population will decrease over time as people can return back to their homes."

Along with an increase in hotel occupancy, we've also seen an increase in rates in some areas. In the first five days of the fires, hotel room rates rose 22% in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, compared to the same dates in 2024.

Jan Frietag, national director at CoStar group, says that's because of demand for luxury hotel rooms and suites, which usually have kitchenettes and are closer to apartment-style living.

"The question is, do you want proximity or do you want a low rate," said Frietag. "Getting both may not be possible right now. But there are certainly hotels that are not as expensive that are just a little bit further out."

And Frietag says occupancy rates are already decreasing.

"Already on Friday, Saturday night we saw sharp deceleration in occupancy from the peak," said Frietag. "So it was really just three nights, that people were, evacuations orders were in place, people were displaced and people said, okay. ':et me go back and see if my house is okay or livable, or if I have friends and family. And that seems to have happened already."