Making the STRs Align: How Newport Hospitality Group is Building Smarter Hotel Budgets

In today’s hotel landscape, with rising costs and shifting markets, the need for accurate forecasting and budgeting has become increasingly critical.

Ownership groups and asset managers demand clear visibility into performance trends, segment dynamics, and realistic projections that align with actual financial outcomes. This year’s STR Custom Forecasts and CoStar Property Analytics aim to continue delivering exactly that, with additional depth for our property leadership teams.

Leveraging comprehensive data sets from CoStar and STR, the “STR Projection Tool,” as we at Newport call it, empowers users to plan the coming fiscal year while also helping shape the sales-mix strategy.

With feedback from our Compass Circle Councils — the Horizon Council focuses on commercial strategy, sales leadership, and revenue growth, while the Operations Council concentrates on guest satisfaction, property performance, team engagement, and operational excellence — we have introduced comparison data for the current and prior year at the market segment level. This gives our property leaders immediate insights into the changes they are planning for their property and the fiscal impact that each implies. As a result, property leaders can make more informed decisions all in one platform.

We have also added several new sections to the STR Projection Tool that deliver summarized year-over-year comparisons and outlines for goals, all with areas for commentary.  This creates a single source of truth that ties into the greater business plan for the fiscal year.

These upgrades translate into tangible benefits for owners and operators. Faster, more confident planning through intuitive design and dynamic calculations reduces manual effort and minimizes the chances of errors. Segmentation clarity drives the revenue strategy with better mix modeling and ADR precision, helping properties identify and communicate growth opportunities. Together, these help keep stakeholders aligned and ensure changes for the year are clear and concise. Additionally, this solution is easily scalable to a portfolio of properties.

This year’s STR Projection Tool is expected to continue to be the foundation of another planning season. While it is a critical time of planning many people dread, this tool that Newport Hospitality Group uses continues to make the road ahead as smooth and clear as possible.