Paolino Public Affairs Consulting, Inc. Legislative Report - January 20th

There have been thousands of bills proposed thus far, with more to come ahead of JF deadlines for committees - which isn't until early March. The tragic passing of Representative Quentin "Q" Williams left a vacancy in the Labor Committee, which was filled by Representative Manny Sanchez from New Britain this week. On February 28th there will be special elections held for three State Representative seats in Hartford, Middletown, Stamford, and West Hartford. We will monitor this as the incoming legislators will likely be assigned to committees that impact your organization.

Get involved! Join one of the association's committees

The Connecticut Lodging Association is a trade association representing and promoting the lodging industry in Connecticut. We have more than 90 active property members, which include hotels, motels, resorts, inns and bed and breakfasts. We also have an allied member program, representing tourism attractions and various vendor services available to members such as technology, landscaping services, linens, laundry, legal services, public relations, pest control, and much more!

Are you looking to get more involved in the Connecticut Lodging Association? Join one of our committees.

• Nominating Committee
• Legislative Committee
• Website/Social Media Committee
• Events Committee
• Membership Committee
• B&B Committee

If you would like to be involved in one of the association's committees, please reach out to us at info@ctlodging.org, for more information!

Turning Over Your Mattresses This Year? Don’t Dump Them. Recycle Them.

There is a successful mattress recycling program available to members of the Connecticut Lodging Association that makes it easy to recycle old mattresses, protect the environment, and allow you as a CLA member to boost your grade for green operations. It is called the Bye Bye Mattress program and it is managed by the Mattress Recycling Council. (MRC).

Some CLA members have already discovered the program. In 2022, MRC recycled more than 3,500 mattresses from more than 25 hotels in Connecticut, including 357 at the Waterford Hotel Group’s New Haven Village Suites.

“We want to make it as convenient as possible, so MRC will work collaboratively with you, whether that’s directly with you - the CLA member - or your third-party involved in the mattress turnover,” says MRC’s Northeast Program Coordinator Dan McGowan. “The mattresses we collect are recycled locally, providing jobs and turning valuable materials into new products like carpet padding, insulation, filters and a variety of steel products.”

“This program is available because of a mattress recycling fee that is collected when mattresses

and box springs are sold to consumers in Connecticut,” says McGowan. “Lodging facilities,

healthcare facilities and other large volume purchasers are also considered consumers. So, when

your facility purchases mattresses or box springs, your vendor must include the mattress

recycling fee.”

To learn more about how your CLA member business can recycle mattresses, contact Dan

McGowan at (860) 830-3832 or dmcgowan@mrc-us.org. More information is available at the

website under commercial recycling.

STR, TE make modest upgrade to first U.S. hotel forecast of 2023

STR and Tourism Economics made a modest upgrade to the 2023 U.S. hotel forecast just released at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS). Additionally, a subsequent downward adjustment was made for 2024. 



The occupancy projection for this year was lower than the previous forecast by 0.1% while projections for average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) were lifted 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively. For 2024, a 0.3% downgrade in occupancy coupled with a 0.1% lift in ADR meant a RevPAR downgrade of 0.4%.

RevPAR, the key top-line performance metric, was fully recovered in 2022 on a nominal basis but will not achieve that status when adjusted for inflation (real) until 2025. 

“Even if the anticipated recession is more on the shallow side, performance growth in 2023 will be pretty remarkable,” said Amanda Hite, STR president. “Gains are slowing, however, with inflation rising at a faster rate than ADR. Demand continues to trend at record levels with continued strength in the leisure segment as well as a substantial return in group business. While improving, a deficit persists in business travel – a segment that is especially important for the upper-tier classes. Overall, much of the industry is in a solid position to navigate choppy waters ahead, and we will even see a return to the year-over-year benchmark as the pandemic calendar comparables are behind us.”  Read more.