Year-old Omni Dallas Hotel beats financial forecast

The Dallas Morning News reports that the one-year-old Omni Dallas hotel says it's beat a key revenue goal by an impressive 24%.

That's good news for local taxpayers.

Why? The hotel's financial performance is being watched closely in Dallas because it's owned by the city, which means taxpayers would be at risk if it does poorly.

The massive hotel, which is attached to the city's convention center, opened with 1,001 rooms on Nov. 11, 2011, the story says.

"City officials and even some competitors say the hotel's first season has been more successful than planners had anticipated," the Morning News tells us.

Hotel general manager Ed Netzhammer told the Morning News that between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31, the hotel rang up $56.7 million in revenue from food, drink and guest rooms. That's about 24% ahead of budget.

Guests paid an average room rate of $158, close to the $160 average rate that Omni had projected. Netzhammer attributed the dip to the large number of lower-paying locals who "staycationed" at the hotel.

Over the past year, the hotel filled an average of 68% of its rooms — eight percentage points ahead of what Omni had projected.

The hotel was essentially sold out, with about 97% of rooms full, 63 times in the first 10 months, the article says.

See the stat-filled Dallas Morning News article for more information.