The Vienna Hotel Everyone’s Talking About Just Got a Michelin-Star Glow-Up
Why ALIS starts hotel investment year
LOS ANGELES — Even if the calendar says it’s already near the end of January, hotel investors know that the year doesn’t really start until the week of ALIS, with many telling Hotel Investment Today just that.
In discussions with hotel investment experts over the past few years, many have mentioned that in the U.S., hotel deals are typically not announced until the event begins in late January, marking the real start of deal activity for the year.
Why is that? It could be that companies want to wait to announce a high-profile deal in front of all of their peers. Maybe, sellers want to “take the temperature” of the market and see how deals are being valued versus other asset classes before making final annoucements.
Whatever the reason, it’s almost a certainty that there will be a lot of deals and news coming out of the conference.
The 25th annual Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) by Northstar kicks off this week in Los Angeles. The week of events, which begins on Sunday with ALIS Law at the Courtyard/Residence Inn Los Angeles L.A. Live (which runs through Monday), continues with ALIS on Monday through Wednesday at the JW Marriott/Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles L.A. live. The week concludes with ALIS DESIGN + on Wednesday and Thursday. The events are expected to draw more than 3,000 attendees in various hospitality-related industries to the area.
Hotel Investment Today will be covering the event with panel stories and video interviews from the floor of the event, and with reports about those making news and deals at ALIS.
Highlights of ALIS 2026
The 25th annual version of ALIS kicks off on Monday, with a full day of sessions with a number of CEOs taking the stage to talk about strategies and trends. Among the highlights will be James (Jim) Burba, a longtime industry veteran and ALIS founder, being presented with the ALIS Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to the hospitality industry through their actions, deeds, and great accomplishments.
On Tuesday the late Bruce White, founder of White Lodging, will be posthumously presented with the International Society of Hospitality Consultant’s 2026 Pioneer Award. The award, established in partnership with ALIS in 1996, recognizes an individual each year who is considered a pioneer in their field by making an outstanding contribution, achievement, or improvement in the hospitality industry. The presentation will include an interview with Beth White, chair, White Lodging, and Conner White, vice chairman and chief investment officer.
That same day, Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the way the healthcare system addresses and treats substance use disorders, will honor Marriott International President and CEO Anthony Capuano as its 2026 Shatterproof Hospitality Hero. Capuano is being recognized for his leadership, advocacy, and compassion in raising awareness of substance use disorders and in supporting efforts to end addiction stigma across the hospitality industry.
On Tuesday, the winners of the ALIS Awards will be announced on stage, including the hotels, companies, and executives who are responsible for the most influential hotel industry deals in 2025. Nominees are evaluated based on outstanding business performance in various industry sectors.
Shanghai, London, Dubai lead in openings
INTERNATIONAL REPORT – Among the major hotel markets around the world, Shanghai, London and Dubai are projected to open the most hotel rooms in 2026, according to CoStar pipeline data.
Europe
- 2025 openings (actual): 56,043 rooms
- 2026 openings (projected): 123,789 rooms
Leaders in projected 2026 room openings include London (5,822) and Istanbul (3,017).
Asia Pacific
- 2025 openings (actual): 189,471 rooms
- 2026 openings (projected): 251,234 rooms
Shanghai (7,457) and Beijing (3,991) are among the markets with the most projected room openings in the region this year.
Middle East & Africa
- 2025 openings (actual): 18,273 rooms
- 2026 openings (projected): 54,238 rooms
Top markets by projected 2026 room openings include Dubai (5,053) and Qatar (2,406).
Americas
- 2025 openings (actual): 99,056 rooms
- 2026 openings (projected): 132,479 rooms
The U.S. is led in projected room openings by New York City (4,852) and Phoenix (3,650). Elsewhere in the region, Cancun (1,839) is a top market for new inventory in 2026.
Hotel revenue per available room fell 0.3% in the United States in 2025, a figure "that was actually better than what we thought," said STR's Isaac Collazo on the latest episode of "Tell Me More: A Hospitality Data Podcast."
Collazo and CoStar Group's Jan Freitag crunched the year-end hotel performance numbers on this episode. The standout surprise that regular listeners could see coming was the role luxury hotel performance played in the overall numbers.
U.S. luxury hotels notched 5.7% RevPAR growth in 2025 year over year. Only one other hotel class finished 2025 in the black when it comes to RevPAR — upper-upscale, with 0.7% growth — and even that wasn't even close. Every other class experienced year-over-year RevPAR losses.
"U.S. RevPAR would have decreased 0.9% versus 0.3%" if not for luxury's contribution, Collazo said.
Another repeating chorus: sluggish average daily rate.
For the full year, U.S. hotel ADR increased 0.9%, which Collazo reminded listeners was once again well below the 2.9% inflation rate.
"Every month except January [2025] saw ADR growth below the rate of inflation, and over the last two years, ADR has only been at or above the rate of inflation three times," he said. "Total revenues continue to lag total operating expenses."
Freitag predicted that "conversations are all going to be about cost control and margins" at the upcoming Americas Lodging Investment Summit, because "margins are under pressure."
Also in this episode:
- Freitag unpacks his "Five expectations for the hotel industry in 2026," which focus on bifurcation holding, uneven World Cup demand, and pickups in renovations and hotel deal volume.
- Collazo dissects hotel supply drivers in 2025, sharing data on new hotel openings versus property conversions.
- The co-hosts participate in the viral #2016 social media trend, talking about what makes them nostalgic for 2016 in the hotel industry.
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