The recent U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE) reports that, at the close of the first quarter of 2025, the top five markets with the largest hotel construction pipelines are led by Dallas with 203 projects/24,496 rooms, a new all-time-high room total representing 9% project and 11% room growth year-over-year (YOY). Following Dallas is Atlanta with 166 projects/19,149 rooms, Nashville with 127 projects/16,589 rooms, Phoenix with 126 projects/16,490 rooms, and Austin with 124 projects/14,514 rooms, which also achieved new all-time-high project and room totals, showing impressive 11% project and 9% room growth YOY.
U.S. markets with the greatest number of projects already under construction at the Q1 close are New York with 39 projects/7,064 rooms, Phoenix with 34 projects/5,023 rooms, and Dallas with 31 projects/3,706 rooms. Atlanta follows with 26 projects/3,182 rooms and the Inland Empire with 22 projects/2,399 rooms under construction.
Dallas has the most projects scheduled to start anytime in the next 12 months, with 80 projects/8,890 rooms. Following Dallas are Atlanta with 61 projects/7,452 rooms, Nashville with 50 projects/7,058 rooms, Austin with 47 projects/5,347 rooms, and the Inland Empire with 46 projects/4,652 rooms.
Dallas leads the U.S. Markets with the largest number of projects in early planning again, with 92 projects/11,900 rooms. Atlanta follows with 79 projects/8,515 rooms, Austin with 61 projects/6,988 rooms, Nashville with 57 projects/6,892 rooms, and the Inland Empire with 55 projects/5,384 rooms.
Additional markets of note include Raleigh-Durham, which reached new all-time-high project and room totals with 68 projects/8,774 rooms, and Saint Louis with a new all-time-high project total of 47 projects/5,271 rooms.
During the first quarter of 2025, 138 new projects, accounting for 19,800 rooms, were announced within the top 50 U.S. markets. The leading markets for new project announcements (NPAs) include Dallas, with 9 projects and 2,011 rooms, Austin, with 9 projects and 988 rooms, and New York, with 8 projects and 1,595 rooms. These markets are followed by Nashville, Atlanta, and Denver, each with 7 projects and accounting for 996 rooms, 757 rooms, and 688 rooms, respectively.
Renovation and brand conversion activity remains robust throughout the United States at Q1. The Washington DC market leads with the largest count of combined renovation and conversion projects with 35 projects/5,025 rooms. The Charlotte market follows with 34 projects/3,729 rooms, then the Atlanta market with 33 projects/3,709 rooms, the Houston market with 30 projects/4,060 rooms, and the Chicago market with 28 projects/5,742 rooms.
In the first quarter in the U.S., 161 new hotels/18,767 rooms opened, led by the Atlanta market with 7 new hotels/733 rooms, the Dallas market with 6 new hotels/534 rooms, and the New York market with 5 new hotel openings/498 rooms. LE analysts forecast another 579 new hotels/64,781 rooms to open across the U.S. through Q2-Q4 2025, for a total of 740 new hotels/83,548 rooms to open by year-end.
Among the U.S. markets with the greatest number of new hotels forecast to open in 2025, New York again tops the chart with 31 new hotels with 3,926 rooms expected to open, followed by Dallas with 20 new hotels/2,133 rooms and Atlanta with 19 new hotels/2,284 rooms.
For the 2026 forecast, LE analysts expect 848 new hotels/92,892 rooms to open in the U.S. by year-end. The Dallas market is expected to lead in new hotel openings in 2026, with 26 new hotels/2,611 rooms forecast to open, followed by the Atlanta market with 24 new hotels/2,539 rooms, then the Phoenix market and the Inland Empire, each with 23 new hotels expected to open accounting for 3,587 and 2,207 rooms, respectively.