Bay Area bars and restaurants are packed for World Cup watch parties this week, but San Francisco hotels are not seeing the same sell-out crowds experienced during the Super Bowl earlier this year. While the Super Bowl brought a concentrated week of events that sent hotel prices soaring into the thousands, the World Cup spans more than a month. The extended timeline has resulted in a slower, steadier trickle of out-of-town soccer fans booking rooms. The Bay Area has several exciting matches on the schedule at Levi’s Stadium, but none feature top-seeded teams or the mega-star power seen when “Messi mania” previously swept the region. “We knew we weren’t going to get any of the first-place teams. We weren’t going to get Brazil, or Germany, or any of the teams carrying big fan bases — Messi, Ronaldo,” said Alex Bastian, CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “But that being said, this is still such a great thing, because people are coming here from around the world.” Bastian noted that the city’s hospitality industry is still in a strong position for the summer. “We have a great convention calendar for the month of June, and because we were prepared, we’re doing much better compared to our colleagues across the country,” he said. A significant surge in hotel bookings could still happen if Levi’s Stadium secures a match featuring Team USA. That possibility grew stronger following the U.S. team’s 2-0 win over Australia on Friday. “I’m really excited about Team USA. I’m USA all the way,” Bastian added. “I’m hopeful that when that game is played here, the world will come check out San Francisco as well.” ...read more read less