Good times continued to roll for Colorado Springs hotels as the occupancy rate in July remained nearly as strong as June and the average room rate surged to a record, according to the Rocky Mountain Lodging Report.

The 85% occupancy rate was down only slightly from 85.2% in June and was a huge improvement from 66% in July 2020, when tourists were just starting to return to Colorado Springs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month’s occupancy rate was off just 3 percentage points from the occupancy rate in July 2019. Limited-service hotels significantly outperformed full-service properties with a 91.6% occupancy rate in July, compared with an 81.3% rate for full-service hotels.

But the recovery was even more impressive in terms of the average room rate, which surged 53.4% from July 2020 to a record $172.78 a night, up more than $20 from the previous record set just a month earlier . The Colorado Springs average rate was $18 a night higher than the average for the Denver area and higher than most other areas of the state.

“The strong occupancy rate has allowed (local) hotels to get more aggressive on the average room rate to maximize their yield,” said Doug Price, CEO of Visit Colorado Springs. “July was a very strong month and the trends have continued to be very positive with the Space Symposium (which starts Monday) and its 7,500 participants giving the hotels quite a boost at the end of this month. August should end strong.”

The occupancy rate for local hotels in the first seven months of the year was 62.9%, up from 44.9% during the same period last year. The average room rate so far this year is up 22.7% from a year ago to $125.25.

Colorado Springs had the state’s fourth-highest occupancy rate behind Durango, Glenwood Springs and Greeley and was above the statewide occupancy rate. That rate improved to 77.2% in July from 70.2% in June and just 48.9% in July 2020. Denver’s occupancy rate increased to 76.8% in July from 70.5% in June and 43% in July 2020 with the area near the Colorado Convention Center posting the lowest occupancy rate at 69.2% and the area around Denver International Airport posting the highest occupancy at 81.9%.

The average room rate in Colorado surged by nearly $30 a night in June to $185.05 in July, up 40.1% from July 2020. The average room rate in the first seven months of the year is up 2.2% from the same period last year $146.15. Denver’s average room rate jumped more than $20 a night from June to $154.67, up 58.8% from July 2020. The average room rate in Denver so far this year was up just 1.3% from a year ago to $114.59.

Nationwide hotel occupancy edged higher in July to 69.6% from 66.1% in June but still trailed the July 2019 occupancy rate of 75.1%, according to travel research firm STR. The average room rate nationwide in July was $143.30, up 6% from July 2019.

The Broadmoor and Cheyenne Mountain Resort are not included in the Rocky Mountain Lodging Report’s Colorado Springs totals but are listed in a separate category that includes many of Colorado’s ski resorts.