Western Alliance Bancorp. reported that hotel borrowers accounted for 8.5% of its outstanding gross loans as of the first quarter, while hoteliers represented 7.1% of gross loans at Home BancShares Inc. and 7.0% at Simmons First National Corp.

The figures, newly reported in first-quarter filings, place the banks among those most exposed to the hotel industry, which is in the middle of an unprecedented downturn stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. By total loan balance, Wells Fargo & Co. led all reporting lenders with $12.1 billion in outstanding lodging exposure, for 1.2% of gross loans.

In the week ended April 18, U.S. hotels reported a 79.4% year-over-year decline in revenue per available room, driven by a 64.4% decline in occupancy, to an average of 23.4%, according to data provider STR.

Local stay-at-home orders and widespread freezes on business travel are expected to push many hotel borrowers into distress. Fitch Ratings expects delinquencies on commercial mortgage-backed securities loans tied to hotel properties to rise to about 30% by the end of the third quarter, from 1.44% as of March. Walker & Dunlop Chairman and CEO Willy Walker said April 22 that owners of approximately 70% of hospitality properties in the firm's loan portfolio had requested forbearance.

S&P Global Market Intelligence data on hotel exposure does not reflect commitments by several of the largest U.S. banks — including Wells Fargo, Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. — to lend billions of dollars to hotel owners and operators in revolving credit facilities. The two largest worldwide hotel operators, Marriott International Inc. and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., along with operator peer Hyatt Hotels Corp., have all moved in April to shore up their balance sheets with debt offerings.

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While the coronavirus crisis has hurt the lodging industry broadly, industry participants say some hotels may fare better than others, with smaller roadside properties seeing less of a decline in occupancy than large urban or destination hotels that rely on air travel and conference bookings.

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc., where hotel loans represent 4.4% of gross loans, noted in a presentation that substantially all of its portfolio is comprised of limited-service properties, with no luxury properties and little revenue based on food service or other services affected by social distancing.

Both Pinnacle and Western Alliance said their hotel loans carry low leverage ratios, and Western Alliance President and CEO Kenneth Vecchione said during a call that the bank partners exclusively with experienced hotel operators with significant invested equity and resources. The bank is in "ongoing constructive dialogue" with the borrowers about government lending programs and the possibility of loan modifications, he said.

Vecchione said the bank is still gathering information on collective borrower liquidity in its hotel book.