I have some insight. I am currently staying outside Sacramento in a hotel whose staff calls the neighboring hotels to find out occupancy / rates.

At the bottom this hotel was down to 13% occupancy. Across the street there are 4 hotels owned by the same guy. He closed 3 of them (one is a Springhill Suites that was down to 2 guests) and moved them all into the Residence Inn which kept the RI mostly full. At this point the hotel I am in is running about 40%, and all 4 of the hotels across the street have reopened.

I have mentioned to the staff how much the occupancy has improved, and they are unimpressed. They point out this is the time of year when the hotel should be sold out.

Rates? At the bottom rates in the area were really low, some were under $70. The rates are still lower than normal, but not by much. There are no hotels still in the sub $70 range. I've been checking the websites to try and find cheap hotels anywhere in California. There are low rates, but there just aren't any rates wildly below normal. If anyone remembers, in 2009 the San Francisco Hyatt was famously available on Priceline for $50. This time around there are no rates of that level.

I have some free night certs I've been trying to use around Lake Tahoe. Availability during the week, but nothing on weekends, even many weeks out.