Business travellers adapt in the face of soaring hotel rates, according to HotelHub Q1 data

Analysis of the 1.78 million hotel bookings made via HotelHub technology between January and March shows that the global average rate per night rose by 7.17%, from $177 in Q1 2025 to $189 in Q1 2026 – a sharp acceleration versus the near-flat 0.19% lift seen from Q1 2024 to Q1 2025 and the 3.13% average increase recorded across the whole of 2025. These rate hikes follow a tumultuous 12 months for global economics, marked by geopolitical conflict and a new US approach to trade policy.

Europe has seen considerable increases in room rates, with the Q1 average booked rate for the region jumping from $154 in 2025 to $175 in 2026 – a rise of 13.88%. This inflation is even more pronounced in some key European cities for business travel, with the highest Q1 rate increases recorded in Milan (+29.29%; $195 to $314), Stockholm (+22.11%; $160 to $195) and Amsterdam (+18.62%; $216 to $256).

On the other side of the Atlantic, US hotel rates also rose in line with the global average at +7.61% from $210 in Q1 2025 to $226 in Q1 2026. While this increase is not as steep as that seen across many European countries, it is a sharp reversal of the -1.33% overall decrease in average American rates recorded in 2025 compared to the previous year, suggesting that the effects of tariffs and declining visitor numbers are starting to hit US hoteliers. Bookings to the US from HotelHub users were down by nearly 12% compared to Q1 2025, equating to more than $27 million in lost hotel spend.

Despite these financial pressures, the data indicates that business travellers are not downgrading their standards, with the distribution of bookings across star ratings remaining broadly in line with Q1 2025. Reservations at 5-star properties accounted for 12.13% of HotelHub bookings, up slightly from 11.98% in Q1 2025, while 4-star hotels comprised 44.88% of total bookings (44.64% in Q1 2025) and 37.90% of bookings were for 3-star hotels (37.96% in Q1 2025).

Instead, it would seem travellers are finding other ways to reduce their spending where possible. The average length of stay has edged down by 2.54% from 2.50 days in Q1 2025 to 2.43 days – meaning that the average spend per booking only rose by 4.62% ($440 to $461) in the same period. In the UK, where national average rates rose by 9.14%, bookings at London hotels fell by 5.24% while bookings at hotels in Manchester increased by 9.30%. This shift is likely driven, at least in part, by the gap in pricing: one night in London at the average Q1 rate of $324 roughly equates to two nights in Manchester, where rates averaged $160.

HotelHub’s chief commercial officer, Paul Raymond, commented:

“The growing instability over the last few months has not produced favourable conditions for business travellers and, while this dataset only covers the first few weeks of the latest hostilities in the Middle East, it seems unlikely that things will get easier in Q2. For me, however, the real takeaway here is how travellers are negotiating the current situation. The business world is still moving: it’s just finding savvier ways to make budgets stretch – whether that’s compressing trips into fewer days or shifting to more affordable destinations.”

Another notable finding from the data is the early impact of the Iran conflict, which began on 28 February 2026: bookings to the United Arab Emirates – both a major global transportation hub and a target of airstrikes – fell by nearly 77% in March compared with the same month last year.

Elsewhere, bookings to Canadian hotels have continued to grow, increasing by +5.16% compared to Q1 2025, while Australia and China have both proved popular with HotelHub users this quarter, with bookings growing by +4.30% and +4.20% respectively.

Written by Sam Gilbertson