Winter Storm Fern wreaked havoc on U.S. hotel performance in the week of Jan. 25-31 as revenue per available room fell 4% on declining occupancy (-2.4 percentage points) and unresponsive average daily rate (+0.2%).
As the U.S. hotel industry faces continued soft revenue per available room in 2026, Isaac Collazo, senior director of analytics at STR, said he's more optimistic for full-year performance, even though the industry faces a tough first half of the year.
After a strong start to 2025, demand for hotels from groups, defined as rooms sold in blocks of 10 or more, fell for nine straight months, a pattern that points to the lingering uncertainty felt across corporate America following the federal government tariff announcement in early April.
The Dallas hotel sector enters 2026 in a transition period as the city’s convention center renovation continues to limit large group activity and mute the city’s usual event‑driven peaks.
Conversations at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit 2026 revealed an industry deep into a structural reset, defined by distribution disruption, evolving consumer behavior and a sharpened focus on operating efficiency rather than only on top-line expansion.
A challenging financing environment for developers has led to fewer hotel rooms being built, meaning future supply growth will remain muted in the U.S.
The Midwestern hospitality regions of Kansas City, Chicago and Detroit each exhibit conditions that could allow them to outperform their 12-month revenue per available room, or RevPAR, forecasts through December 2026.
As expected based on history, U.S. hotel revenue per available room fell 1.8% during the week of Jan. 18-24 due to the MLK holiday, but the decrease was much larger than anticipated because of Winter Storm Fern.
The Southeast region recorded a slight drop in hotel sales volume last year, as investors found smaller hotels and opportunistic acquisitions attractive. In 2025, approximately 680 hotel sales took place in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, totaling nearly $5.6 billion in transaction volume, down 2.6% year over year. However, the region registered roughly 150 more deals than in 2024, indicating greater market participation from smaller hoteliers.
Conflict with Cambodia has led to a run of negative headlines for tourism-driven Thailand, but officials in the Southeast Asian country are hoping a strong push internationally and a focus on wellness will help garner more attention from travelers.
Following a year of two halves in 2025, marked by evolving consumer behaviour, uneven market performance and a late investment surge, the year ahead is expected to show similar patterns amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty. CoStar takes a look at some of the key trends expected to shape the UK hotel sector in 2026.
For the Houston hospitality sector, 2026 looks to be a transition period as the effects of storm-related displacement begin to fall out of the data and a more active convention calendar, steadier corporate and leisure travel, and the early buildup to June’s FIFA World Cup matches position the area for a constructive second half.
Performance results for the U.S. hotel industry in 2025 fell short of expectations. Revenue per available room, or RevPAR, slipped 0.3%, driven by a 1.2% drop in occupancy as room demand dipped below 2024 levels, an uncommon trend in a non‑recessionary environment.
