Can you get a room in South Florida for the World Cup? Check bookings and rates

The World Cup is providing memories and joy in South Florida. But it’s not yet giving hotels the boost they were looking for.

Based on preliminary data, some measures even show a worse performance than the same period a year ago.

The figures come from data firm CoStar and account for June 11 through June 20, the night before the Uruguay-Cabo Verde game, the second group stage match at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

The hotels’ numbers could improve as the tournament continues as new data is released.

Brazil vs. Scotland and Colombia vs. Portugal were big draws. And the knockout stage now underway could generate more excitement.

The CoStar Group, a commercial real estate information company, acquired top hospitality analytics firm Smith Travel Research in 2019 and has since closely analyzed the hotel industry.

Hotel occupancy in Miami and Fort Lauderdale

On each of the first 10 nights of the World Cup, Miami hotel occupancy was worse than it was on the same dates one year earlier, with drops ranging from 9% to 20%. Occupancy declined 11% on the region’s first game night, June 15, when Uruguay played Saudi Arabia.

Even as teams were sparking excitement on the field, that didn’t translate to accommodations. Miami hotel occupancy ranged from 56% to 73%. On the night of that first game, hotel occupancy was only 57%

Three other U.S. host cites had games on the same night. Atlanta hosted Spain vs. Cabo Verde, Los Angeles had Iran vs. New Zealand, and Seattle had Belgium vs. Egypt.

Compared to those cities, Miami finished last, with the lowest occupancy and the worst occupancy growth compared to one year ago.

“The initial data that’s come out for Miami was quite disappointing,” Chantal Wu, senior director of hospitality market analytics for CoStar, covering the Southeast U.S. region, said in an interview with the Miami Herald.

Fort Lauderdale is showing the same trend, according to the CoStar data. Occupancy has fallen on all 10 nights compared to the same days in 2025. Occupancy ranged from 56% to 82%, slightly higher than the Miami area.

Hotel rates in Miami and Fort Lauderdale

In Miami, average daily rates were 3% to 23% higher each of the 10 nights versus one year ago. Rates were 9% higher the night of the Uruguay-Saudi Arabia game.

So far, rates have ranged from $186.55 per night to $240.33

The higher rates were expected in part because hoteliers figured they could live with lower occupancy if that meant raising rates.

That’s why revenue per available room, known as RevPAR, is the most important measure used to measure success. This benchmark number is a combination of occupancy with average daily rate.

Here, Miami hotels haven’t gotten off to a good start. In the first 10 days of the soccer tournament, RevPAR has only increased twice compared to one year ago. One of the two increases was the June 15 game night, which produced a 9% jump. But this isn’t considered an increase for an event like the World Cup.

And that RevPAR ranked third among the four U.S. hosts with games on June 15. Miami was also third in RevPAR growth. CoStar recommends comparing cities that have games the same day since different days add other variables, such as weekends versus weekdays.

Meanwhile, Fort Lauderdale hotels have also posted worsening in RevPAR, dropping each of the 10 days compared to one year ago.

Airbnb bookings

Trying to rent out your home to World Cup visitors? Short-term rentals got off to a similar start. Between June 11 and June 20, demand in Miami decreased 9 of 10 nights compared to the same dates one year ago. Percentage change ranged from a negative 16% to a positive 1%.

The night of the June 15 game, demand fell by 7%. But booked rates were up 20%. That’s according to information provided by data analytics firm AirDNA, which tracks short-term rental Airbnb and Vrbo booking.

In Fort Lauderdale, demand that night fell 19% compared to last year while booked rates increased 12%.

In one positive sign, AirDNA said its data deeper into group stage games should show significant improvement in booking growth.