07/05/2026
This Data has significant implications for everyone managing short term rentals in the US.
US hotel RevPAR declined 0.3% in 2025 the first non recessionary decline in recorded history. Annual occupancy slid 1.2 percentage points to 62.3%.
Let's put that in context:
Hotel performance declining in a year without a recession, pandemic, or major economic crisis is genuinely unprecedented. The industry's own analysts called it out directly.
At the same time:
STR demand grew 4.9% year over year while supply increased approximately 4% nationally to over 1.7 million properties.
US short term rentals outperformed hotels across every region in Q2 2025, achieving an average RevPAR advantage of nine percentage points.
Several regions posted year on year RevPAR gains, including the Mid Atlantic at 11%, New England at 10%, the Rocky Mountains at 9%, and the Hawaiian Islands at 6%.
These two data points sitting side by side tell an important story.
The traditional accommodation model fixed hotel rooms, standardised experiences, no kitchen, no laundry is losing ground to a format that offers what modern travelers actually want: space, privacy, the feeling of a home rather than a room, and value per person that no hotel can match at scale.
A 3 bedroom cabin sleeping 8 at $380 per night costs less than three hotel rooms at $160 each.
The math on group travel is not even close.
What I think this means for STR operators specifically:
Hotels are not the enemy. But they are the comparison your guests are making before they book you.
Every time a guest chooses a well presented, well managed STR over the equivalent hotel stay, it's because the value equation was clear.
Professional presentation, fast communication, and a consistent experience are what close that decision in your favour.
The hotels losing ground are the ones who didn't adapt. The STR operators who will lose ground next are the ones making the same mistake.
