In the first quarter of 2025, the U.S. hotel construction pipeline grew 5% year-on-year (YOY) with 6,376 projects and 749,561 rooms, according to the Q1 2025 U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report by Lodging Econometrics (LE). This represents a 6% YOY increase in rooms compared to the same quarter in 2024.

At present, 1,152 projects or 145,368 rooms are under construction, an increase of 1% in projects and 3% in rooms YOY. Meanwhile, projects scheduled to start within the next 12 months total 2,286, with 263,370 rooms, marking a 1% rise in both projects and rooms YOY. Notably, early planning stage projects grew significantly, surging by 10% in projects and 13% in rooms YOY, totaling 2,938 projects and 340,823 rooms.

The top three categories by total projects at the end of Q1 were upscale, upper midscale, and midscale, accounting for about 75% of the total U.S. construction pipeline. Upscale projects totaled 1,443 projects with 179,295 rooms, upper midscale projects totaled 2,338 with 226,349 rooms, and midscale projects totaled 974 with 82,094 rooms. Upper upscale and midscale projects reached new highs with 10% and 9% increases, respectively.

The report also emphasized the ongoing trend of brand conversions, which reached a new high of 1,421 projects with 136,668 rooms in Q1, marking a growth of 13% in projects and 16% in rooms YOY.

New project announcements (NPAs) in Q1 totaled 313 projects with 37,912 rooms. Projects starting construction in Q1 2025 saw a 21% increase in projects and 41% increase in rooms compared to Q4 2024.

From January to March 2025, 161 new hotels opened with 18,767 rooms. LE forecasts an additional 579 projects with 64,781 rooms to open by year-end 2025, resulting in 740 new hotels with 83,548 rooms, indicating a growth rate of 1.5%. LE also anticipates 848 new hotels with 92,892 rooms to open by year-end 2026, representing a supply increase of 1.6%.