The first full week of February delivered a meaningful shift in U.S. hotel performance trends. After several weeks of uneven results, national RevPAR growth accelerated, supported by strong weekday pricing, convention-driven demand, and major event activity. At the same time, the data reinforced longer-term structural themes, shaping the hospitality cycle in 2026 — including widening chain scale divergence, steady but measured core growth, and continued stratification across markets. Here’s what the latest hotel data reveals and what it means for owners and investors.
U.S. Hotel RevPAR Starts February on a Strong Note
U.S. hotels opened February with renewed momentum. For the week of February 1–7, 2026, U.S. hotel RevPAR rose 2.8%, marking the strongest weekly gain in the past five weeks. Average daily rate (ADR) increased 1.7%, while occupancy climbed to 56.4%.
Weekday Pricing Strength and Weekend Demand Growth
Weekday RevPAR led the gains, rising 3.4% as ADR increased 2.9% — the largest weekday pricing increase since early November outside of New Year’s Eve. Weekend RevPAR rose 1.4%, despite a 0.9% decline in ADR, as room demand increased by 3%. That demand increase equates to approximately 196,000 additional hotel rooms sold, the largest weekend demand gain since June 2025.
While the headline numbers suggest broad-based strength in U.S. hotel performance, a closer look shows that event-driven demand in key markets played a significant role in shaping the national RevPAR growth.
Las Vegas Hotels Surge on Convention-Driven Demand
AHR Expo 2026 Delivers a Major RevPAR Boost
Las Vegas was the single largest contributor to national hotel RevPAR growth during the first week of February. The AHR Expo 2026, an annual HVAC convention, brought 53,300 attendees to the market from Sunday through Thursday.
Weekday RevPAR in Las Vegas increased 57.5%, resulting in a full-week RevPAR gain of 39.2%. Las Vegas alone accounted for 140 basis points of total U.S. hotel RevPAR growth.
Las Vegas has approximately 164,200 available hotel rooms on any given night. Based on attendance levels, the conference may have occupied nearly one-third of the city’s available inventory each night during its run. Preferred rates were secured at 46 of the city’s 303 hotels, 40% of which were located on the Las Vegas Strip.
This example highlights how a single large convention can materially impact national hotel industry metrics, especially in high-capacity urban markets.
Super Bowl Week Reshapes Market-Level Hotel Performance
Occupancy Up, ADR Down
The Super Bowl added another 70 basis points to national RevPAR growth.
National occupancy during Super Bowl week reached 77.2%, up 3 percentage points year-over-year. However, ADR declined from 28.5% to $352. The rate compression reflects the geographic structure of this year’s event, which was split between San Francisco and San Jose.
San Francisco vs. New Orleans: A Study in Market Structure
In San Francisco alone, occupancy rose 4.6 percentage points to 78.7%, with ADR reaching $409. Even so, ADR remained 16.9% lower than what New Orleans achieved during last year’s Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, New Orleans experienced a 59.4% decline in RevPAR this year.
The contrast underscores how hotel inventory concentration, geographic layout, and upper-tier supply influence pricing power during major events. Markets with tighter compression and less dispersed hotel supply tend to command stronger ADR growth.
Core U.S. Hotel Performance Remains Stable
Removing Event and Hurricane Impacts
To better understand underlying industry health, it is important to remove event-driven distortions:
- U.S. RevPAR excluding Las Vegas: +1.4%
- Excluding both Super Bowl markets: +0.7%
- Excluding 13 hurricane-impacted markets: +2% across 157 markets
- Core U.S. hotel RevPAR has increased 0.3% over the past four weeks and has been trending upward since October.
The data suggests steady stabilization across most markets, even if growth remains moderate.
Chain Scale Divergence Continues to Define the Cycle
Luxury and Upper Upscale Outperform
Chain scale divergence remains one of the most important structural themes in the U.S. hotel industry.
For the week, Luxury and Upper Upscale hotels posted a 5.6% increase in RevPAR. ADR in the Luxury segment rose 4.6%, reflecting sustained pricing power.
Midscale and Economy Remain Under Pressure
Midscale and Economy hotels saw RevPAR decline 0.3%, with ADR falling 2.4%. Demand was positive across all chain scales, but rate growth remains concentrated in higher-end properties.
This divergence is not temporary. In full-year 2025, Luxury chain scale RevPAR increased 5.1%, while Economy chain scale RevPAR declined 3.6%. The nearly 900 basis point spread was the widest annual differential between these segments since 2010 (excluding pandemic years).
Urban markets and luxury assets continue to outperform, while lower-end and select-service hotels lag. This performance gap is increasingly reflected in valuations and investor expectations.
Group Demand Growth Favors Higher-End Hotels
Major Markets Lead Group Recovery
Group demand remains a key growth driver for upper-tier hotels.
Luxury and Upper Upscale group demand increased 3.6% this week — the largest increase of the year. San Francisco saw group demand surge 131%, adding approximately 48,000 room nights due to the Super Bowl.
New York recorded a 70% increase in group demand, adding roughly 29,000 room nights. San Diego and Los Angeles each posted more than 10,000 additional group nights.
Hotels with strong convention and meeting exposure, particularly in major urban markets, continue to benefit disproportionately from group demand momentum.
2026 U.S. Hotel Industry Outlook
RevPAR Growth Expectations
Industry-wide RevPAR growth in 2025 came in approximately 250–300 basis points below beginning-of-year expectations. December 2025 and January 2026 performance was roughly flat.
Looking ahead, 2026 U.S. hotel RevPAR growth is forecast at 1.5%, including a 75–100 basis point benefit from FIFA World Cup 26.
Margin Pressure and Supply Dynamics
Demand is currently down modestly, while ADR remains slightly positive. Expense pressures continue to limit hotel-level profit growth, and margins are expected to decline.
Although supply growth remains muted, occupancy in most markets is still below pre-pandemic levels, limiting ADR expansion. As a result, the 2026 outlook calls for selective growth rather than broad-based acceleration.
Salt Lake City Hotel Market: Increasing Stratification
Geographic Reporting Considerations
Salt Lake City is one of the more geographically unique hotel markets. Employment and economic metrics often incorporate Ogden to the north rather than the sparsely populated western areas. For reporting consistency, hotel and labor data frequently combine Salt Lake City and Ogden.
Chain Scale Distribution in Salt Lake City
The Salt Lake City hotel market is becoming increasingly stratified:
- Economy to Upper Midscale: 14,005 rooms
- Upscale to Luxury: 13,753 rooms
The distribution is nearly balanced, but higher-end product is gaining stronger placement. As event-driven demand and group business increasingly favor upper-tier properties, this positioning may prove important for long-term market performance.
January 2026 Economic Data Supports Hospitality Stability
Stronger-Than-Expected Payroll Growth
The U.S. economy added 130,000 payrolls in January 2026, well above the 70,000 forecast and significantly stronger than December’s revised 48,000 gain. Health care (+82K), social assistance (+42K), and construction (+33K) led job growth.
Federal government employment declined by 34K in January. Since peaking in October 2024, federal employment is down 327,000 jobs, or 10.9%.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, while labor force participation increased to 62.5%. The broader U-6 unemployment measure declined to 8.0%.
Inflation Moderates
The annual CPI slowed to 2.4%, while core inflation eased to 2.5%. Monthly CPI increased 0.2%, reflecting moderating price pressures, particularly in energy.
A cooling inflation environment combined with resilient employment trends creates a relatively stable macroeconomic backdrop for U.S. hotel demand in early 2026.
What February’s Hotel Data Means for Owners and Investors
February’s hotel performance reinforces three defining themes shaping the 2026 hospitality cycle: event-driven surges can materially influence national RevPAR growth, luxury and urban assets continue to outperform lower-end chain scales, and core U.S. hotel performance remains stable but measured. While the industry is not experiencing broad-based acceleration, it is demonstrating resilience amid muted supply growth, moderating inflation, and selective demand drivers.
For hotel owners, operators, and investors, positioning remains critical. Asset quality, chain scale exposure, and market selection are driving performance dispersion across the country. If you are evaluating a hotel acquisition, disposition, refinance, or portfolio strategy, contact our team to discuss how current U.S. hotel RevPAR trends and market dynamics may impact your investment decisions in 2026 and beyond.