Jan. 22–Orange County hotels headed into the holidays in November with two-thirds of their rooms occupied and rates up a healthy 4 percent over November 2012, reported PKF Consulting in Los Angeles.

Costa Mesa topped the market for occupancy, with 76 percent of the city’s hotels full, compared with 69 percent in November a year earlier. Countywide occupancy averaged 67.7 percent.

Three areas saw their room rates top $200 a night in November. Newport Beach hotels averaged $206.38 nightly, up from $191.36 in November 2012. South Orange County rates averaged $202.27, an increase from $194.54 the year before. Huntington Beach came in at $220.54 a night, versus an average rate of $186.90 in 2012.

Local hotels also saw an average 5 percent increase in revenues per available room, a measure of hotel profitability. Huntington Beach led the county with a 21 percent jump in revenues per available room.

“Normally, November is not the best month of the year for the hospitality industry because people don’t travel that month, but 67 percent is a good November,” said Bruce Baltin, a senior vice president at PKF. “Overall it was a very good year for Orange County, and November just continued it.”

— Mary Ann Milbourn

On the move

Justin Gammon joined the Wyndham Irvine-Orange County Airport hotel as general manager, a title he previously held at Crowne Plaza Irvine. Diane Blake, who was previously general manager at Doubletree by Hilton Santa Ana-Orange County Airport, is now director of sales and marketing at Wyndham.

Eric R. McMullen is now executive vice president and chief fiduciary officer at First American Trust FSB, a Santa Ana-based wealth investment firm and federal savings bank. McMullen was previously senior vice president at Parasol Investment Management. First American Trust is a subsidiary of First American Financial Corp.

BigRentz.com, a Santa Ana-based construction-equipment rental network, hired Robert Gray as vice president of business development. He was previously a senior sales executive at Wynne Systems in Irvine.

New ventures

Tesla Motors says its supercharging station in San Juan Capistrano will open “in the next few months” to support free long distance travel between San Diego and Los Angeles along I-5. When opened, it will not have a solar canopy as some stations do. Tesla said it is first focusing on expanding its network of 66 stations nationwide and will add solar “to certain locations” eventually. The station will have seven stalls and charge a car with 150 miles worth of electricity in about 30 minutes.

FivePoint Communities Management Inc. selected FirstService Residential, a property management company with California headquarters in Aliso Viejo, to operate the community association for Pavilion Park, the first residential development in the Great Park Neighborhoods. Aliso Viejo-based FivePoint is developing the neighborhoods adjacent to Orange County Great Park in Irvine.

True Drinks Inc., an Irvine flavored water and energy-drink company, is expanding distribution of its AquaBall flavored water for children. Partnerships with Albertsons, Bristol Farms, Gelson’s, WinCo and Ralphs will bring its product to 397 more grocery stores.

Leadership