The U.S. hotel construction pipeline kept expanding in the second quarter of 2026, reaching 5,975 projects and 703,001 rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics (LE), the hospitality real estate research firm that tracks development activity across the country.
That topline figure marks a continuation of the multi-quarter growth trend LE has documented since early 2025, driven largely by hotel conversions and steady expansion in the upper-tier chain scales, even as developers continue to navigate elevated construction costs and financing conditions.
Pipeline by construction stage
According to Lodging Econometrics, the pipeline breaks down across three stages of development. Projects actually under construction totaled 1,081, comprising 133,216 rooms. A larger tranche, 2,147 projects and 245,871 rooms, is slated to start construction within the next 12 months. The early planning stage β the earliest phase of the pipeline and often a leading indicator of future supply β held 2,747 projects and 323,914 rooms, the largest of the three segments by project count.
Upper midscale and upscale still dominate
LE’s data shows the upper midscale and upscale chain scales continue to lead the total U.S. construction pipeline by a wide margin. Upper midscale stood at 2,225 projects and 214,027 rooms, while upscale followed at 1,282 projects and 159,252 rooms. Combined, the two segments account for roughly 59% of all projects and 53% of all rooms in the national pipeline, reflecting sustained developer preference for mid-tier, limited-service brands that carry lower construction and operating costs than full-service properties.
Luxury and upper upscale hit records
Two higher-end segments posted record highs in the quarter, per Lodging Econometrics. The luxury chain scale reached a record 103 projects and 25,496 rooms, up 12% in project count and 21% in rooms year-over-year. The upper upscale chain scale also hit a quarterly record with 367 projects and 65,021 rooms. LE’s data suggests renewed developer confidence in high-end hospitality demand, even as the broader pipeline remains weighted toward mid-tier product.
Conversions β projects where an existing hotel or non-hotel building is rebranded or repurposed rather than built from the ground up β also set a record at Q2, with 1,567 projects and 152,044 rooms in the pipeline, up 15% in projects and 18% in rooms year-over-year, according to LE. The continued rise in conversion activity points to developers favoring faster, lower-cost paths to new supply amid persistently high construction financing costs.
New announcements and construction starts accelerate
Lodging Econometrics reported that new project announcements (NPAs) in the second quarter totaled 280 projects and 33,423 rooms, up 18% in projects and 23% in rooms year-over-year β a sign that developers are still bringing new deals to the pipeline at a healthy clip. Construction starts, meanwhile, reached 176 projects and 20,056 rooms in the quarter, up 14% in projects and 17% in rooms from a year earlier.
LE also released an updated openings forecast alongside the pipeline data. The firm projects 661 hotel openings totaling 74,820 rooms for full-year 2026, representing 1.3% supply growth, followed by 738 openings (78,909 rooms, 1.4% growth) in 2027 and 832 openings (88,321 rooms, 1.5% growth) in 2028 β the first time LE has issued a 2028 openings forecast. Openings in the first half of 2026 totaled 277 hotels and 31,416 rooms.
What it means
Verified data: The project and room counts, chain-scale breakdowns, year-over-year growth rates, and multi-year openings forecasts above are as reported directly by Lodging Econometrics in its Q2 2026 U.S. hotel construction pipeline release.
Lodging Econometrics’ interpretation: LE frames the record highs in luxury, upper upscale, and conversion activity as evidence that the pipeline’s growth is broad-based rather than concentrated in a single segment, and that conversions in particular are functioning as a release valve for developers facing higher costs on ground-up construction.
RealtyWire analysis: The data suggests a hotel development sector that remains resilient more than a year and a half after interest rates began weighing on new construction generally. The continued dominance of upper midscale and upscale brands β together approaching 60% of all projects β indicates that most developers are still prioritizing capital-efficient, limited-service formats over full-service builds. The modest 1.3%-1.5% supply growth forecast for 2026-2028, despite a near-6,000-project pipeline, also underscores how much of that pipeline sits in early planning or pre-construction stages rather than active building, meaning actual delivered supply growth will likely lag the pipeline’s headline size for several more quarters.
