U.S. Hotel Construction Down 15 Months Running, Europe Posts €27 Billion Investment Year, Hotels Empty Six Hours a Day at Full Cost

A sharp opinion piece argues hotels lose meaningful revenue during the four-to-six daily hours when rooms sit empty but operational costs continue to run.

Thursday's data tells a divided story: U.S. construction has now contracted for 15 straight months while Europe posts a €27 billion investment year, and a sharp opinion piece asks why hotels run empty for six hours every day.

U.S. Hotel Construction Down 15 Consecutive Months as Greater China Doubles Fairfield Footprint

CoStar data shows U.S. hotel construction has now declined for 15 straight months, with 136,990 rooms currently under construction. Luxury is the only segment with meaningful percentage growth, up 4.5%, while every other tier sits flat or contracting. The 15-month run is the longest sustained pullback since the post-2008 cycle, and it lines up with this week's earlier Q1 pipeline data showing supply growth holding at just 1.4%.

The contrast with Asia Pacific is sharp. Marriott opened the 100th Fairfield in Greater China this week, doubling the brand's regional presence since 2024, with new expansion targets including Zhangjiajie. Where U.S. operators are choosing yield over volume and waiting out construction costs, the major chains are putting up midscale and upper midscale flags across China at a pace U.S. development cannot match. The geographic split is now structural, not cyclical. Read the analysis →

European Hotel Investment Hit €27 Billion in FY 2025, But RevPAR Grew Just 2%

The Market Beat Europe report shows hotel investment volume jumped 23% to €27 billion in 2025, the highest level since the pre-pandemic peak. The capital is moving back into European hotel real estate at scale, with cross-border activity and platform deals doing the heavy lifting. The market has clearly decided European hotels are an attractive asset class again.

The operating side tells a different story. RevPAR grew only 2% across the year, and occupancy remained 1.5 points below 2019 levels, meaning the recovery on the operations line is still incomplete six years on. The gap between investor enthusiasm and underlying performance is now wide enough to matter, particularly for owners modelling exit scenarios on yield assumptions that the operating data does not yet support. Read the analysis →

Hotels Sit Empty Six Hours a Day at Full Operational Cost

An opinion piece pushes hard on a revenue gap most operators treat as fixed: hotels run for four to six hours every day with rooms sitting empty between checkout and check-in, while staff, energy, and overhead costs continue at full rate. The piece argues that daytime bookings, whether for workspace, day-use rooms, or short-stay leisure, can generate 30 to 40% higher ancillary spend than overnight stays because daytime guests are awake, on-property, and using F&B and amenities.

The framing matters because it reframes a structural cost as a structural opportunity. With labor costs per occupied room rising and supply growth muted, operators looking for incremental revenue without capex are running out of obvious levers. Daytime utilization is one of the few that does not require new product, only a different distribution channel and a willingness to disrupt the standard arrival cycle. Read the analysis →

Signals

Travel Dreams 2026 finds AI investment averaging $320,000 per property. The study of 6,000 travelers shows a clear shift toward ease over amenities, and ties that demand-side change to a supply-side number worth noting: hotels are now investing an average of $320,000 per property in AI in 2026. The figure is the most concrete data point yet on what the agentic AI conversation actually costs operators to participate in.

Canada ranked 12th globally for business travel in 2025, Toronto generated $4.3 billion. GBTA research shows the Canadian business travel market continuing to grow, with Toronto alone supporting more than 21,000 jobs through industry activity. The data lands as Canada's hotel pipeline reaches record highs, suggesting the demand and supply pictures are aligning for one of the strongest Canadian hotel years in recent memory.

Noah Brodsky named CEO of Under Canvas, succeeds Matt Gaghen. Brodsky joins from Lindblad Expeditions, where he served as Chief Commercial Officer, with prior senior roles at Travel + Leisure Co., Wyndham, and Starwood. Gaghen transitions to Executive Chairman through the end of 2026 before joining the board. The handover comes as Under Canvas opens its first California location at Yosemite and prepares to open in New Hampshire in June.

IHG and OzHarvest passed one million rescued meals. The partnership, running since 2018, combines food rescue with hospitality training programs. Cumulative numbers in CSR partnerships are usually a vanity metric, but a million meals across an eight-year hotel-and-food-rescue collaboration is a genuine marker of operational integration rather than a press release commitment.

Adam Mogelonsky on capturing FIFA World Cup demand without losing the long game. A new podcast episode walks through how hotels in 2026 host cities can capture event-driven demand while building direct booking systems that outlast the tournament. The framing matters: a lot of operators are about to spend marketing dollars on a one-time spike, and most of that spend will not return value past the closing ceremony.

Properties

COMO opened COMO Le Beauvallon on the French Riviera following a comprehensive restoration of the historic property. 1 Hotel Austin began accepting reservations as the brand prepares its Texas debut. Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver announced a multi-year renovation plan, and The Westin Nashville completed a $13.5 million renovation covering guestrooms, suites, and its rooftop meeting spaces.