As seen in Lodging Econometrics’ (LE) Q1 2025 U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report, at the close of the quarter, the pipeline consists of 6,376 projects and 749,561 rooms. These first quarter totals represent a 5% year-over-year (YOY) increase in projects and a 6% YOY increase in rooms compared to Q1 2024.
Currently, there are 1,152 projects comprising 145,368 rooms under construction in the U.S., up 1% by projects and 3% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction anytime within the next 12 months total 2,286 projects with 263,370 rooms at Q1, reflecting a 1% rise in both projects and rooms YOY. Most notably, project and room totals in the early planning stage experienced significant growth, increasing 10% by projects and 13% by rooms YOY, standing at 2,938 projects and 340,823 rooms, respectively.
The top three chain scales by total projects at the end of Q1 are upscale, at 1,443 projects/179,295 rooms, upper midscale, at 2,338 projects/226,349 rooms, and midscale at 974 projects/82,094 rooms. These three chain scales account for approximately 75% of the projects in the total U.S. construction pipeline at the end of the first quarter. Notably, however, upper upscale chain scale projects in the U.S. pipeline reached record highs of 362 projects and 70,603 rooms at Q1, up 10% by projects and 7% by rooms YOY. Similarly, the midscale chain scale hit all-time highs at Q1 with 974 projects/82,094 rooms, increasing 10% by projects and 9% by rooms YOY.
LE’s latest U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report also highlights the continued growth in brand conversions at Q1, which reached a new record-high of 1,421 projects with 136,668 rooms, growing 13% by projects and 16% by rooms YOY. Combined hotel conversion and renovation activity hit a record-high project total at Q1 with 2,050 projects/269,435 rooms.
New project announcements (NPAs) announced into the pipeline during Q1 stand at 313 projects/37,912 rooms. Projects starting construction during the first quarter of 2025 increased 21% by projects and 41% by rooms compared to Q4 2024 new construction start totals. This indicates that in Q1 developers pressed forward with their current projects, suggesting an upbeat approach to development for the first quarter of 2025.
From January through March of 2025, 161 new hotels with 18,767 rooms opened across the United States. For Q2-Q4 of 2025, LE analysts forecast an additional 579 projects with 64,781 rooms to open, resulting in 740 new hotels opening with 83,548 rooms by year-end, resulting in a 1.5% growth rate. Looking ahead, LE analysts anticipate 848 new hotels with 92,892 rooms to open by year-end 2026, for an increase in supply of 1.6%.