2026 just may be the year that replaces 2019 as the next high-performance benchmark for hotels.

With September data in the books following a particularly strong third quarter of hotel performance, the hosts of "Tell Me More: A Hospitality Data Podcast," said on their latest episode that 2026 may hit a new annual demand record, surpassing the previous high set in in 2019.

Revenue per available room for U.S. hotels grew a record 11% in September compared to last September, thanks in part to favorable calendar comps, but also due to a record 114.7 million room nights sold.

“It’s a real demand surge,” said co-host Isaac Collazo, senior director of analytics at STR. “Because of this surge, we now expect year-to-date demand in October to be 6%.

“We thought June and July RevPAR … was the peak of the year and we just set an 11% RevPAR,” Collazo said.

But while higher-than-expected demand is a bright spot, co-host Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality market analytics for CoStar Group, reminded listeners that once adjusted for inflation, average daily rate definitely is not past its 2019 prior peak.

“That’s the conversation that hotel owners have with us … that’s the crux — cost increases are pretty strong,” Freitag said.

All about Nashville

This show, celebrating the podcast’s 50th episode, was recorded at The Late Great, a bar and live music venue inside the Virgin Hotel Nashville. The hosts dove into not only Nashville’s current hotel performance and pipeline, but also shared insights into how the city became a hub that benefits from diverse travel demand drivers.

Built by strong healthcare systems and the ever-present music scene, the city benefits from robust infrastructure as well, including the airport and major interstates, Freitag said.

Today, those factors intersect to attract talent, big companies and jobs to the city.

"We have an ecosystem that was built by healthcare that has a very strong entrepreneurial spirit," Freitag said. "With that comes a lot of talent, and what that attracts are a lot of corporate headquarters."

Collazo called the city "very vibrant, very much alive," and noted that year-to-date hotel demand for Nashville is the highest on record for the city, and 21% higher than it was at its previous peak in 2019.