Q3 2026 Hotel Deal Recap: 22 U.S. Hotel Sales and What They Sold For

Article by Nathan Snyder | Brokerage | October 2026

Three select-service deals traded between $95,000 and $153,000 a key. Three trophy hotels traded between $340,000 and $1.34 million. If you own the first kind, the second kind is not your comp.

The market in one paragraph

HVS says nearly 1,000 U.S. hotels sold in the first half of 2026, up 14 percent from a year earlier, at an average 8.2 percent cap rate and $137,000 a key. For the third quarter through mid-September, HVS puts the average at an 8.4 percent cap rate and $142,000 a key. Operations held up but slowed: CoStar’s August 2026 numbers show U.S. RevPAR of $107.43, up 2.0 percent, on ADR of $161.78 and occupancy of 66.4 percent, a slower pace than the month before.

The 22 deals we tracked, July 1 to Sept. 30, 2026

By the numbers: 20 closed sales and 2 signed deals. The 18 closed sales with a published room count total 5,948 keys. Six closed sales have a public price: together about $1.9 billion for 3,000 keys.

Lesson 1: The average is not your comp

Divide $1.9 billion by 3,000 keys and you get about $635,000 a key, a number that describes none of these hotels. The six priced closings split cleanly in two: three select-service and extended-stay deals at $95,477, $140,625 and about $153,000 a key, and three trophy deals at about $340,000, $866,800 and $1.34 million. HVS’s quarter-to-date average of $142,000 a key sits right in the first group. If you own a franchised select-service hotel, those three deals and HVS’s average are your neighborhood, not the resort headlines.

Lesson 2: Deferred capex comes off the price, dollar for dollar or worse

Summit sold the Courtyard and Residence Inn Arlington South for $19.0 million on July 22 at a 5.9 percent cap rate, and Summit’s own release says that rate accounts for about $7.6 million of foregone near-term capital spending. That is about $38,000 a key the buyer will spend, and about $95,477 a key the seller received. Summit also says the cap rate is 5.4 percent without World Cup demand in June and July. Get your PIP estimate before a buyer does it for you.

Lesson 3: A second use can be worth more than the flag

Torrington paid $13.5 million, or $140,625 a key, for the 96-room Residence Inn in Danvers, Mass. JLL’s release says the hotel came with approved rights to convert it into an 88-unit apartment community, cleared by the Danvers Zoning Board of Appeals, and that the buyer will keep running it as a Residence Inn first. If your site has housing or other zoning upside, document it before you list.

Lesson 4: Public REITs are the motivated sellers

Seven of the 22 deals came from six public REITs and trusts: Ashford (Dulles and Long Island), Braemar (Pier House), Summit (Arlington South), Sunstone (Hyatt Regency San Francisco), Park (the Wade) and American Hotel Income Properties (the six-hotel package). Their reasons are public: Ashford put about $21 million of the Dulles proceeds toward a mortgage on a 13-hotel portfolio, and Braemar described the Pier House sale as progress on its move to a self-managed REIT. A seller working to a debt or restructuring timetable gives buyers room to negotiate.

Lesson 5: Clean, fast deals win

Marcus & Millichap says the 71-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Temple, Texas, drew multiple offers in less than 30 days on the market, and that the seller picked the buyer offering substantial nonrefundable earnest money for certainty through closing. Price is not the only number a seller should compare.

What to watch in Q4

LW Hospitality Advisors’ Q3 deal count and volume (expected late October). Trepp’s September CMBS delinquency rate (lodging was 5.84 percent in August). Whether the American Hotel Income Properties package and the Wade close. We log every deal on the Hotel Transaction Tracker as it is announced.

The bottom line

The Q3 headlines were billion-dollar resorts. The Q3 lesson for most owners is in the three quiet deals between $95,000 and $153,000 a key: capex, zoning and certainty moved the price more than the brand on the sign.

Sources and further reading

• U.S. Market Pulse: September 2026 — HVS, 2026-09-30
• U.S. hotel performance for August 2026 — CoStar via Hospitality Net, 2026-09-29
• Summit Hotel Properties second quarter 2026 results — Summit Hotel Properties, 2026-08-05
• Sunstone Hotel Investors reports results for second quarter 2026 — Sunstone, 2026-08-06
• JLL arranges $13.5M sale and financing of 96-room Residence Inn — JLL, 2026-08-27
• Ashford Hospitality Trust sells Dulles asset — Panabee, 2026
• Braemar sells Key West resort — Hotel Dive, 2026
• Ryman completes Grande Lakes acquisition — Ryman Hospitality Properties, 2026-09-01
• Holiday Inn Express & Suites Temple sale — Marcus & Millichap, 2026-07-28
• Chicago investor targets Lakeshore Wade Hotel — Hoodline, 2026-09
• 2026 CMBS Delinquency Rates — Multi-Housing News, 2026-09-28