The US hotel sector spent much of 2025 raising prices and losing guests at the same time. ADR grew 5%. RevPAR fell 5.5%. Higher rates didn't compensate for fewer rooms filled.
Heading into the second half of 2026, the picture is improving – but margin pressure hasn't gone away. Here is what the Q1 2026 data shows, and what it means for your property.
Direct bookings are worth their weight in revenue
OTAs account for 65% of US hotel reservations by volume. That share has barely moved. But the performance gap between direct and OTA bookings has widened. Direct bookings generate $20 more ADR, guests stay 0.3 nights longer on average, and travel in slightly larger parties. That revenue difference compounds across a full year.
One channel worth flagging: offline direct – calls, emails, walk-ins – still accounts for 25% of all bookings. That is a significant volume of reservations handled manually, with no automated record of the interaction and no built-in upsell logic.
Where you ask matters more than how you ask
Most upselling still happens at the front desk. It's also where upsell value is lowest. The front desk average upsell is $22. At kiosk check-in it's $52. In the online booking engine, it's $57.
The guest isn't less willing to spend at the front desk. They're less likely to be asked at the right moment, with the right offer, in a way that makes the decision easy.
Only 11% of US guests check in online before arrival. Only 8% use a kiosk. Yet both channels generate more than double the front desk upsell average. For most hotels, that is an untapped revenue line that requires no additional headcount.
AI is already in the building – the question is what data it has to work with
83% of US hoteliers are using AI in daily operations. The most common applications are digital content production, price optimization and translation. Housekeeping quality control remains largely manual – one of the clearer gaps.
78% of hoteliers are optimistic about AI's future impact. 83% completely or mostly trust AI-powered tools for operational decision-making. The sentiment is positive, but the limiting factor isn't attitude – it's data quality.
AI tools perform in proportion to the guest data available to them. A system that records the room and the rate but not the guest cannot personalize or anticipate at scale.
What the World Cup data says about demand management
Forward-looking data from Mews customer hotels in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Philadelphia shows a more nuanced World Cup impact than many operators expected.
Miami is the standout: ADR for World Cup dates is up 148% year on year. In New York, LA and Philadelphia, the increase is closer to 30%. Pick-up speed isn't materially faster than a comparable non-World Cup period in most markets – which suggests that demand hasn't accelerated the way event-based pricing strategies assumed it would.
See the full picture
The US Hotel Performance Report 2026 covers macro trends, occupancy and revenue KPIs, booking behavior, payment data, AI adoption and a full city-by-city World Cup breakdown.
It's free, and it's only a couple of clicks away.