Peninsula hotels are again filled with tourists on weekends, but empty during the week.

Like a cork on a Champagne bottle going pop, the pent-up demand to get out of the house shot out and poured right into Monterey Peninsula hotels after Jan. 25, when Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the state stay-at-home order. After countywide occupancy rates in the low 30s in January, reported by the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau, some hotels in Monterey saw occupancy of 80-90 percent Friday and Saturday nights in February, City Manager Hans Uslar says.

The trifecta of Peninsula tourism took place Feb. 13-15: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament; Valentine’s Day; and Presidents Day. Hotels on the Peninsula did see an increase in guests over SIP lows, although countywide occupancy on Valentine’s Day was 47 percent, lower than last year’s 65 percent, according to the MCCVB.

While leisure weekend travel is rebounding faster than expected, conference travel is zero, keeping overall occupancy rates low. “Business is increasing, but we’re still a long way from where we need to be,” says Rob O’Keefe, MCCVB’s CEO. Conferences are expected to return this fall.

At InterContinental the Clement Monterey on Cannery Row, they’ve reinvented themselves to make up for lost weekday travel, says Catherine Faber, director of sales and marketing. They’re catering to families and people coming to help elderly relatives. Another trend is vaccinated baby boomers with time and money to travel.

As to the spring, hotel representatives say it’s hard to predict. “What we call the booking window shrunk to an unbelievable short duration,” says Faber. “People will literally get in the car and start surfing the net and see who has availability.”