Global hotel rates rose 4.5 percent year over year to $200 per night in the third quarter, the slowest quarterly growth of 2026, according to U.K.-based hotel booking technology provider HotelHub.
Year-over-year rate growth has eased each quarter of this year, from 7.2 percent in the first quarter to 5.2 percent in the second. Still, the global average nightly rate hit a five-year high of $216 in September. The quarterly HotelHub Index analyzed more than 1.6 million bookings made via HotelHub technology between July and September 2026.
"It would be easy to read Q3 as good news for business travelers, and in one sense it is: rate growth is slowing," HotelHub chief commercial officer Paul Raymond said in a statement. "But slower inflation isn't the same as lower prices; rates are still considerably higher than a year ago—and higher again than two years ago."
In Europe, the region's average nightly rate rose 2.3 percent year over year to $193. That marks a significant slowdown in growth from the 13.9 percent year-over-year rise recorded in the first quarter, and the 6.7 percent seen in the second.
"The latest data raises the question of whether European rates are approaching a ceiling on what corporate travel budgets will tolerate," the analysis noted.
Several European cities where rates skyrocketed earlier in the year have leveled off. In Milan, third-quarter rates rose just 0.6 percent year over year, compared with a 29.3 percent jump in the first quarter. Amsterdam rates rose 2 percent in the third quarter, down from 18.6 percent in the first, while Madrid rates fell 9.5 percent year over year after rising 8.6 percent in the second quarter.
Though rate growth is cooling, rates remain historically high. Across the first nine months of 2026, the global average nightly rate booked by HotelHub users was $197, up 5.6 percent year over year and 23.9 percent higher than in 2022, when pandemic travel restrictions eased.
In North America, rate growth is gathering steam after a flat 2025. The average nightly rate increased 6.5 percent year over year during the third quarter to $229.
North American markets got a leg up from the final weeks of the FIFA World Cup during the third quarter. Mexico City reported a 12.6 percent year-over-year rise in the average nightly rate and Los Angeles posted a 9.8 percent increase. The most significant rate increase for the third quarter, however, came from non-host city Chicago, where the average nightly rate grew 15.2 percent year over year to $413.
The HotelHub analysis notes that while rate rises vary from market to market, even within the same region, business travel is nevertheless more costly than it was a couple of years ago. Global average spend per booking in the third quarter rose 5.9 percent year over year to $506.
Lead times also got longer, with travelers booking an average of 17 days ahead of their stay, up 4.4 percent year over year, "suggesting companies are seeking to plan trips earlier as they grapple with the strain on their budgets," according to HotelHub.