U.S. Hotels RevPAR Surges 11% in September 2026

4 min read

U.S. hotels earned more per available room in September 2026 than they did a year earlier. The gain was the largest for any month since February 2023. Revenue per available room, or RevPAR, rose 11% to $114.80, according to CoStar data reported by Hotel News Resource. For owners and managers, that’s the number to watch, because it reflects both how full the rooms were and what guests paid.

Occupancy and rate both moved

RevPAR is total room revenue divided by the number of rooms available, so it rises when a hotel sells more rooms, charges more for them, or both. In September, both happened. Occupancy, the share of rooms sold, climbed 5.4% to 66.9%. Average daily rate, or ADR, rose 5.3% to $171.69.

When occupancy and ADR rise together, the gain is easier to trust. A hotel that only raises prices can lose guests. A hotel that only fills rooms with discounts may not grow revenue. September shows both moving in the same direction.

New Orleans and the local culture question

New Orleans stood out. Occupancy there rose 10.1% to 53.3%, and RevPAR climbed 25.5%. Miami posted the biggest jump in ADR among the top 25 markets, up 14.1% to $168.86.

The report doesn’t explain why New Orleans did so well, and we won’t guess at a single cause. Still, it’s worth asking what a city with a strong identity offers a guest. Our speculation: when visitors come for the food, music, and neighborhoods, a hotel that helps them find those things early in the stay is likely to earn better reviews and repeat bookings. That’s a hypothesis, not a finding from this data.

A rate increase only holds if the guest walks away feeling the room was worth it.

Why prices are holding up as demand cools

The monthly figures sit alongside a more cautious picture. The Skift Travel Health Index came in at 99 for September, 1% below the year before. Skift’s destinations index, which tracks travel interest through online search, fell 12% to 88. Skift reports that higher airfares and accommodation rates are holding up revenue even as fewer people search for trips. Skift’s view is global. The RevPAR figures cover only the U.S., so the two sources describe different markets.

Hotel company earnings tell a similar story. Hotel Dive reported that several large chains raised their full-year RevPAR outlooks after U.S. RevPAR grew in the third quarter, and it credited the World Cup with a welcome boost. Las Vegas was the exception among the companies it covered, with MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment reporting revenue declines in that market. Hotel Dive is the only source here that ties results to specific chains, so its details come from executives on earnings calls.

What to check this month

Pull your own occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR for September and set them beside the market figures above. If you outpaced the market, find out which rates and segments drove it. If you lagged, look at whether you priced above what guests were willing to pay. Search interest was falling at the same time.

Next, see whether your guest satisfaction scores moved with your rate. A higher rate with lower scores usually shows up later as softer repeat business. The next few months will show whether September’s gains hold. The answer will come from property-level numbers, not national averages.