The number of hotel projects under construction in the United States in the first quarter grew slightly year over year, as did the number of hotel construction projects set to begin soon, according to a new report from Lodging Econometrics.
The overall number of projects in the U.S. pipeline at the end of the first quarter increased by about 5 percent year over year to nearly 6,400, fueled by a 10 percent increase in the number of projects in the early planning stages, according to Lodging Econometrics.
There was slower growth in U.S. hotel projects closer to fruition. The total U.S. hotels under construction at the end of Q1 increased 1 percent year over year to 1,152, totaling more than 145,000 rooms, a 3 percent increase. Hotel projects for which construction is set to begin in the next 12 months totaled 2,286 with more than 263,000 rooms, each figure up 1 percent year over year, according to Lodging Econometrics.
Dallas in the first quarter once again led the U.S. as the city with the most hotels in the pipeline, with 203 projects and nearly 24,500 rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics. The Texas city has led all others in pipeline count since the second quarter of 2021, when New York led.
Dallas in the first quarter was followed by Atlanta, with 166 projects totaling more than 19,100 rooms, Nashville (127 projects with 16,600 rooms) and Phoenix with (126 projects with 16,500 rooms) as the cities with the most hotel projects in the pipeline.
Throughout the U.S., 161 new hotels opened in the first quarter, totaling 18,800 rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics, which projected an additional 579 hotels would open in the remainder of 2025, totaling 64,800 rooms. That would represent a year-over-year growth rate in hotels of 1.5 percent, according to the company.