Washington, D.C. Hotel Market 2026

Washington, D.C.’s hotel market in 2026: CBD rates held near record highs in 2025 while fiscal-year occupancy eased, federal travel cuts hit government per-diem demand early, and America 250 / Semiquincentennial programming lifted summer windows. This page tracks Destination DC / STR CBD occupancy and ADR, the 15.95% hotel sales-and-use tax (OTR), inventory and pipeline, 2025–2026 sales with price per key where disclosed, for-sale listings verified on broker pages, and America 250 demand.

Last updated: October 30, 2026 · Refresh as Destination DC annual/monthly research, OTR tax notices, GSA per diem bulletins and transaction disclosures land. Byline: Nathan Snyder, Editor.

2026 performance at a glance

Calendar year 2025 — Washington, DC CBD (STR via Destination DC): occupancy 71.8%, ADR $267. RevPAR is not printed on the Destination DC PDF; implied ≈ $191.7 from published ADR × occupancy (Destination DC 2025 Annual Visitor Statistics). Visitors: 27.2 million total (+0.1%); domestic 25.1 million (+0.4%); international 2.1 million (−4.0%); spend $11.9 billion (+4%).

FY2025 — District hospitality survey (secondary via UtopiaInDC summarizing OCFO Trend Report March 2026): occupancy 69.3%, average room rate $263.30, room revenue $2,518.7M. Label as fiscal year, not calendar-year CBD (UtopiaInDC / OCFO path). Prefer locking to the OCFO PDF when accessible.

March 2026 (STR via Hotel Investment Today): occupancy 73.9% (+4.9%), ADR $206.74 (+2.5%), RevPAR +7.5% YoY — after difficult inauguration comps early year (Hotel Investment Today).

July 4 week 2026 (CoStar; week of June 28–July 4): ADR $209.40 (+34.8%); RevPAR $149.78 (+57.3%) — top-25 market framing (CoStar; also Hotel Dive).

Supply and pipeline

Destination DC (CoStar, May 2026): about 179 hotels / 36,187 rooms in D.C.; metro 798 / 117,258. Pipeline: 22 properties / 3,220 rooms expected 2026+, including 4 under construction (washington.org/research).

Selected openings and conversions (Destination DC Hotel Happenings — renovations/rebrands labeled separately from net new keys): Tempo by Hilton Washington, DC Downtown (278 keys, office-to-hotel, opened April 2026); citizenM Washington Georgetown (230, June 2026); The Hoya Hotel at Georgetown (145, renovated reopen August 2026); WaterWalk by Wyndham Capitol Hill/Navy Yard (100, late 2026). Hotel Happenings’ broader “25 hotels / >3,600 rooms in the pipeline” framing includes renovations — do not equate with CoStar’s 22 / 3,220 (Hotel Happenings).

Hotel tax and local rules

District hotel sales-and-use tax is 15.95% on gross receipts from rooms, lodgings or accommodations furnished to a transient, extended through Sept. 30, 2027 under the Hotel Surtax Amendment Act of 2025 (OTR Notice of Oct. 1, 2025 Tax Changes; OTR Sales and Use Tax FAQs). That total includes a separate 4.45% Washington Convention and Sports Authority / convention-center dedicated component on transient lodging (D.C. Code § 47-2002.02) plus a 1-point Tourism Recovery temporary add-on that lifted the hotel rate from 14.95% to 15.95% (OTR). Destination DC also lists “DC hotel tax: 15.95%” on its research page.

Notable 2025–2026 sales

• Westin Washington, D.C. City Center (410 keys; Feb. 19, 2025): $92.0 million — $224,390 per key ($92,000,000 ÷ 410). Buyer Columbia Sussex (Commercial Observer); seller DiamondRock Hospitality (DiamondRock PR; Commercial Observer).
• Washington Marriott at Metro Center (775 12th St NW; Aug. 28, 2025): recorded deed $128 million; Host-reported total consideration $177 million (including seller financing / FF&E framing). Key count: CoStar 459; Bisnow 454 — prefer 459 with CoStar/Host tables and note Bisnow’s 454. On $177M / 459 = $385,621 per key; on $128M / 459 = $278,867. Buyer T2 Hospitality; seller Host Hotels & Resorts; Host seller note about $114M (Bisnow; CoStar; Commercial Observer).
• Capitol Hill Hotel (153 keys; Oct. 16, 2025): $60 million — $392,157 per key. Buyer Friedman Capital; seller TPG (CoStar).
• Former Hotel Harrington (308 rooms; Aug. 6, 2026): $14.4 million — about $46,753 per room. Buyer KHP Capital Partners; Cushman & Wakefield brokered (Traded). Per-room figure labeled closed hotel, redevelopment only — not an operating-hotel comp.
• Old Post Office / Waldorf Astoria Washington DC fee (263 hotel keys; June 10–11, 2026): GSA path to existing leaseholder BDT & MSD Partners. The ~$80 million fee figure and subsequent ~$400 million resale/bid talk are both reported by WSJ (as cited in CRE Daily / trade coverage) — not confirmed sale prices and not listed here as completed operating-hotel comps (CRE Daily / WSJ as reported; Bisnow).
• Foreclosure outcomes: The Line DC (220 keys) — Acore credit bid / $86M loan path (Jan. 2025). Embassy Suites Chevy Chase Pavilion (198 keys) — $12.25M foreclosure auction (Mar. 27, 2025) to PCCP (~$61,869/key).

Current for-sale listings

Verified on broker pages. Asking prices published only when the OM states one. In-District live public OMs were sparse this turn.

No in-District live public offering memoranda with published asks were verified for this update. Former Hotel Harrington is sold (Aug. 6, 2026) — not a current listing. Suburban Maryland flyers are omitted here (not District comps).

Demand drivers

America 250 / Semiquincentennial: Destination DC’s Jan. 12, 2026 meetings release said that as of Jan. 5, 2026, convention-center events were projected to generate 484,408 total room nights, with hotel-only meetings at 308,498 and a 2026 citywide outlook of 395,307 room nights / 267,940 attendees / 19 groups (Destination DC; DC250.us).

Federal travel (attributed, neutral): Kalibri Labs via Hotel Investment Today (Apr. 22, 2025) put D.C. government per-diem transient room nights −20% YTD and −44% on 30-day future bookings through early April 2025 (HIT / Kalibri Labs). GSA FY2026 CONUS per diem for the D.C. locality has seasonal lodging maxima (e.g. Mar–Jun $276; Jul–Aug $183) (GSA).

Key sources

• Destination DC 2025 Annual Visitor Statistics; washington.org/research; America 250 meetings press; Hotel Happenings; DC250.us
• OTR Notice of Oct. 1, 2025 Tax Changes; OTR Sales and Use Tax FAQs
• Hotel Investment Today (March 2026 STR; Kalibri Labs federal demand); Hotel Dive / CoStar July 4 week
• DiamondRock Westin PR; Bisnow Metro Center and Line DC; CoStar Metro Center and Capitol Hill; Traded Harrington; Bisnow Old Post Office
• GSA FY2026 per diem; UtopiaInDC CFO FY path (secondary)

What’s next for Washington, D.C. hotels

• Federal workforce cuts and the 2025 shutdown still frame the demand baseline. The D.C. Office of Revenue Analysis, using OPM duty-station data, put net District federal job loss in calendar 2025 at about 22,356 jobs and $3.656 billion in annualized pay (30,813 separations offset by 8,457 hires) (ORA CFO). Hotel Investment Today, citing STR, reported March 2026 D.C. RevPAR +7.5% YoY, occupancy 73.9% (+4.9%), and ADR $206.74 (+2.5%), with operators describing government room nights recovering after the prior year’s shutdown dislocation (HIT). Analysis: Volume is returning faster than rate power; underwrite midweek gov/association pace, not just leisure weekends.
• America250 is the 2026 leisure and meetings headline. Destination DC’s Jan. 12, 2026 America250 meetings release said that as of Jan. 5, 2026, convention-center events were projected to generate 484,408 total room nights, with hotel-only meetings at 308,498 room nights and a 2026 citywide outlook of 395,307 room nights / 267,940 attendees / 19 groups, alongside a year-long Semiquincentennial calendar (Smithsonian 250th Festival, National Mall activations, major museum openings) (Destination DC). HIT separately noted the Convention Center expected to generate more than 470,000 hotel room nights in 2026 and flagged July 4–adjacent America250 demand (HIT).
• International inbound was already soft into the Semiquincentennial year. Destination DC reported 27.2 million total visitors in 2025 (flat vs. 2024), with domestic 25.1 million (+0.4%) and international 2.1 million (−4% from 2.2 million), while visitor spending hit a record $11.9 billion (Destination DC). The same release noted FY2026 budget changes that cut DDC’s advertising budget by about two-thirds after Tourism Recovery District hotel-tax funding was reallocated. Analysis: America250 may refill domestic leisure rooms without automatically reversing overseas ADR mix.
• Wage floor and Initiative 82 tipped-wage path both moved in 2026. D.C. DOES and the Attorney General’s wage guide set the regular minimum wage at $18.40/hour and the tipped base at $10.30/hour as of July 1, 2026 (tips must still bring employees to the full minimum) (DOES; OAG). Under the Council’s 2025 amendment to Initiative 82 (as summarized on the Attorney General’s schedule), the tipped rate is 56% of the standard minimum as of July 1, 2026, then steps to 60% (2028), 65% (2030), 70% (2032), and caps at 75% in 2034 — not full tip-credit elimination in 2027 as originally passed (OAG).
• UNITE HERE Local 25’s D.C. hotel contract runs through Sept. 15, 2028. WJLA, citing Local 25, reported a four-year contract effective Sept. 16, 2024 that expires Sept. 15, 2028 — use that date rather than a mid-2028 estimate (WJLA / Local 25).
• The 2027 NFL Draft is confirmed for D.C. The NFL announced the 2027 NFL Draft presented by Bud Light for Thursday, April 29–Saturday, May 1, 2027, in Washington, D.C., with the Draft Theater on the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol and the free Draft Experience along Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 3rd and 7th Streets, hosted with the Washington Commanders and Events DC (NFL.com; Events DC). Analysis: Spring 2027 peak-shoulder compression around Draft weekend is a known compression event for downtown and Mall-adjacent hotels — sell group and citywide shoulder nights early.

Washington, D.C. hotel market FAQ

How is the D.C. hotel market performing?

Destination DC’s STR chart shows 2025 CBD occupancy 71.8% and ADR $267. The District CFO FY2025 survey path shows occupancy 69.3% and average room rate $263.30. March 2026 STR (HIT) showed occupancy 73.9% and ADR $206.74 with RevPAR +7.5% YoY after difficult inauguration comps.

What is the D.C. hotel tax?

OTR: 15.95% on transient rooms/lodgings through Sept. 30, 2027, including a 4.45% convention-center dedicated component plus a separate 1-point Tourism Recovery add-on.

How did America 250 affect hotels?

Destination DC is marketing year-long DC250 programming. CoStar reported D.C. ADR $209.40 (+34.8%) and RevPAR $149.78 (+57.3%) for June 28–July 4, 2026.

What recent sales matter?

Notable 2025–26 trades include Westin City Center $92M / 410 keys ($224,390/key); Metro Center $128M deed / $177M Host-reported to T2 (459 or 454 keys — state carefully); Capitol Hill Hotel $60M / 153 ($392,157/key); Harrington $14.4M / 308 rooms (closed hotel, redevelopment ~$46,753/room — not an operating comp); plus foreclosure outcomes at Line DC and Embassy Suites Chevy Chase Pavilion. Old Post Office ~$80M and ~$400M are WSJ-reported figures, not confirmed sale prices.