US hotel demand is strengthening ahead of summer, with bookings, room nights and average daily rates all rising year-on-year, while September emerges as the strongest-performing month.
New data from SiteMinderindicates that US hotel demand is expected to remain strong through the summer period, with September recording the highest growth in bookings and room nights.
The mid-year edition of SiteMinder’s Hotel Booking Trends report is based on more than 1.5 million reservations at the same US hotels between June and September in 2025 and 2026. According to the findings, hotel bookings across the period are up 6.7% year-on-year, while room nights have increased by 4.7%. Average daily rate (ADR) has risen 8.0% to US$338.17.
June and July are also showing positive momentum. In June, bookings increased by 8.5% year-on-year, while ADR rose by 11.2% to US$341.17. In July, bookings were up 6.8% and ADR increased by 9.8% to US$360.88.
September recorded the strongest performance among the summer months, with reservations increasing by 11.8% year-on-year and room nights rising by 11.5%.
The report notes that cancellation rates remained largely stable, declining slightly from 20.76% to 20.69%. In September, cancellations decreased by 0.52 percentage points compared with the previous year, indicating stronger booking commitment during the late-summer period.
Domestic travellers accounted for 45.37% of check-in bookings between June and September, compared with 44.42% during the same period last year. International travellers continued to represent the majority of bookings, accounting for 54.63% of check-ins.
Average length of stay remained above two nights at 2.22 nights, compared with 2.26 nights a year earlier. Although stays were slightly shorter, higher demand and stronger room rates contributed to an increase in overall room night value.
Brian Reising, Regional Vice President of US and Latin America at SiteMinder, said: “US hoteliers are entering a rare summer where global sport, national celebration and strong underlying travel demand are converging. However what stands out in our data is that the momentum is not limited to headline moments such as the World Cup or America 250. September is showing the strongest bookings growth of the period, which points to a market with depth beyond event-led growth.”
He added: “With this summer’s bookings, room nights and average rates all ahead of last year, the challenge for US hotels will be to fully capitalize on this exceptional summer, and to consolidate these gains going forward. This means using real-time market intelligence to respond early to shifting demand patterns, package strategically and capture guest spend beyond the room.”
The Hotel Booking Trends report is based on data from SiteMinder’s platform, which generates approximately 135 million hotel bookings annually. The analysis covers forward bookings for stays between June and September 2026 across 22 tourism markets in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe.