Hotel Brands Set Records Without Building Anything

Marriott International's US and Canada RevPAR rose 5 percent year over year in the second quarter, its highest quarterly increase in 13 quarters according to CEO Anthony Capuano. Hilton reported one of its best signings quarters on record and raised its full-year forecast. IHG opened nearly 200 hotels in the first half of 2026 and Wyndham opened roughly 18,000 rooms globally in Q2.

Thirteen quarters is more than three years. That is how long it took US and Canada RevPAR to produce a 5 percent quarter, and it reframes the recovery timeline most hotel underwriting has been carrying.

But look at how the brands converted that improvement into growth. Nearly 200 IHG openings in six months and 18,000 Wyndham rooms in a quarter did not come from a construction boom. They came from conversions - existing buildings taking a new flag. IHG, Choice, Marriott and Wyndham all cited conversions as a primary growth vehicle.

That is asset-light growth by necessity, not preference. At current construction input costs, a new-build select-service hotel does not underwrite against achievable RevPAR in most US markets. The brands solved the arithmetic by not building.

For owners, the supply block is the durable good news. Limited new construction plus improving RevPAR is the cleanest setup existing hotel real estate has had in years, and the scarcity is structural rather than cyclical. One caution on the demand read: the 2026 FIFA World Cup boosted RevPAR for several operators and is a one-time event.

Implications: Underwrite hotel acquisitions on the supply pipeline in your specific submarket, not on national openings counts. Those counts are conversions, which means the keys already existed and were already competing with you. The real question is how many new rooms enter your competitive set, and at these construction costs the answer in most markets is close to none.