U.S. Hotel Performance Flat in Late February as Markets Split

U.S. hotel performance plateaued in the final full week of February 2026, with near-flat national results concealing sharp contrasts between gateway cities, event-driven markets, and winter-sun destinations.

National Metrics Signal Pause After Early February Gains

Industry data for the week ending February 28, 2026, indicate that U.S. hotels recorded almost unchanged year-over-year performance, with occupancy, average daily rate, and revenue per available room moving only marginally from late February 2025. According to publicly available figures compiled from CoStar reporting, occupancy edged up slightly, while rate and revenue trends softened compared with earlier weeks in the month.

The late-February slowdown followed a stronger stretch earlier in the month, when national results showed clearer year-over-year increases. Reports on the week ending February 21 pointed to higher occupancy versus both the previous week and the same period a year earlier, with average daily rate and revenue per available room also ahead of 2025 levels. By contrast, the final week of the month marked a leveling off as demand growth lost momentum.

Analysts tracking the data describe the pattern as a midwinter plateau. After a weak start to the year, February had emerged as the strongest month for U.S. hotels since early 2023, but the final week did not extend that upward trajectory. Instead, it underscored how quickly weekly results can shift once major events conclude and weather or calendar dynamics change.

Major Markets Move in Opposite Directions

Behind the flat national picture, major U.S. hotel markets moved in sharply different directions. Coverage of CoStar’s market-level breakdown shows that some large cities reported double-digit declines in key indicators, while others continued to outperform on the back of events and seasonal demand.

New York City, which benefitted from steady business and leisure travel earlier in the month, saw one of the steepest occupancy declines in the week ending February 28. Public summaries of the data indicate that the market’s occupancy fell by more than 12 percent compared with the same week in 2025, signaling a notable pullback as winter weather and a lighter event calendar weighed on demand.

Las Vegas, a standout performer during the week ending February 21 with occupancy above 80 percent and revenue per available room up nearly 30 percent year over year, also cooled in the final week of the month. Industry reports note that the market shifted from leading national gains to registering some of the largest percentage declines in occupancy and rate once major conventions and trade shows rolled off the calendar.

Other gateway and convention centers recorded mixed results. Some coastal and business-focused cities saw softer midweek demand yet held up better over weekends, while a few secondary markets benefitted from travelers reallocating trips away from weather-affected areas. The divergence underscored the extent to which late-February performance depended on local events, group business, and regional conditions rather than broad national trends.

Event-Driven Highs Fade as Shoulder Season Sets In

The contrast between mid- and late-February performance was especially visible in markets that had surged on event demand earlier in the month. For the week ending February 21, data widely circulated from CoStar showed U.S. occupancy at roughly 62 percent, up more than 3 percentage points year over year. Average daily rate and revenue per available room were also firmly higher than in 2025, helped by select destinations posting outsized gains.

New Orleans was one of the clearest examples. During the week of Mardi Gras, reports indicate that the city’s average daily rate climbed into the mid-200 dollar range, with revenue per available room jumping more than 30 percent compared with the same week a year prior. Las Vegas followed a similar pattern, with large conventions and trade shows pushing occupancy above 80 percent and lifting revenue per available room by close to one third.

By the final week of February, that event-driven lift had largely receded. With fewer large-scale gatherings on the books, both markets shifted closer to their seasonal norms, highlighting how dependent late-winter performance can be on a relatively small number of high-impact events. At the national level, this translated into what industry observers describe as mixed metrics, with occupancy still slightly higher than the week before but rates and revenue slipping.

The transition into a softer shoulder period is not unusual for U.S. hotels, but the scale of the week-to-week swings in markets like Las Vegas and New Orleans was enough to offset steadier gains in smaller destinations. That volatility contributed to the impression of a market that is stable overall yet highly fragmented beneath the surface.

Weather, Calendar Shifts and Regional Travel Patterns

Late-February dynamics were also shaped by regional travel patterns and timing effects. In the Northeast and parts of the Midwest, lingering winter conditions and travel disruptions curbed short-haul leisure trips and some corporate travel, pressuring occupancy in cities that rely on a combination of business, group, and weekend demand. Publicly available commentary from analysts has pointed to weather-sensitive corporate segments as a recurring drag in early 2026.

At the same time, some Sun Belt and Mountain West destinations reported steadier performance as travelers favored milder climates. While detailed figures for every market are not yet widely published, tourism boards and local reporting from select warm-weather cities have highlighted relatively resilient weekend leisure demand, even as weekday business travel remained uneven.

Calendar positioning also played a role. With Easter falling in late March this year, much of the U.S. spring break surge is expected to concentrate between the second half of March and early April rather than spilling significantly into late February. Industry outlooks cited in CoStar’s broader analysis suggest that hoteliers are looking ahead to that period for a more definitive read on seasonal demand, particularly in resort-heavy markets.

These factors combined to create what one recent analysis described as a weak finish to an otherwise improved month. The message for operators and investors is that February’s underlying recovery remains intact, but week-to-week performance is likely to stay sensitive to both the events calendar and external shocks such as storms or flight disruptions.

Outlook: Cautious Optimism Heading Into Spring

Looking beyond the final week of February, early March data previews signal a modest rebound in both occupancy and revenue per available room, according to public summaries of CoStar’s subsequent weekly reporting. That has reinforced expectations that February’s flat finish represents a pause rather than a reversal in the broader recovery trend.

Forecast updates released in recent months by CoStar and Tourism Economics point to slower but still positive revenue growth for U.S. hotels in 2025 and 2026, reflecting a more cautious view on economic conditions and business travel. The late-February results appear broadly consistent with that tempered outlook, showing that while demand remains comparatively healthy, pricing power is more constrained than during the immediate post-pandemic rebound.

For major markets, the divergence seen at the end of February is likely to continue into the spring, with event-heavy and leisure-driven destinations tracking ahead of more office-dependent downtown cores. Local convention calendars, airline capacity shifts, and consumer confidence trends are all expected to influence how individual cities perform relative to the national average.

For travelers, the mixed picture may translate into wider variation in room rates and availability from one destination to another. While some markets still command premium pricing around major events, others are leaning more heavily on promotions and value-focused offers to shore up occupancy during quieter weeks. As spring approaches, the late-February plateau serves as a reminder that the U.S. hotel recovery is uneven, with national stability masking a patchwork of local stories.