Over 360,000 rooms will soon go live across North America. (Picture: Eilis Garvey / Unsplash)
Despite being hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, North America’s hotel pipeline is looking strong with over 1,704 projects.
1,704 hotels with 364,274 rooms are planned to open across North America in the coming years. While the timeline might be pushed back due to COVID-19, the overall pipeline looks healthy and ambitious.
We find out where these new hotels will open and which ones to watch out for.
2020 to be a busy year
With 658 planned launches set to bring 127,667 new keys to the market, 2020 was supposed to be a busy year. COVID-19 has upset some of these plans but for now, we can only wait and see to find out how many hotels will go live this year and which properties will have to wait until 2021 to welcome guests.
474 hotels are in the pipeline for 2021 so far and will bring 93,010 rooms. 2022 will see 207 hotels with 57,967 keys open and another 50 properties are planned for 2023. 315 are already on the books for 2024 and beyond.
The focus is clearly on 4-star hotels, with 1,259 of the new properties falling into this category. The remaining 445 hotels will be in the 5-star segment.
Top 10 national growth markets
The United States’ hotel market will grow by 1,510 hotels and a whopping 300,541 rooms, making it by far the busiest and fastest-growing market. Canada will get 58 new hotels with 9,422 keys and the Dominican Republic will see 32 hotels with 22,202 rooms open their doors.
Cuba’s hotel market is steadily growing with 22 hotels on the books, as is Jamaica with 10 new properties. Aruba and Turks and Caicos will both get 7 new hotels while St. Lucia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will each have 6 openings.
Top 10 urban growth markets in North America
Unsurprisingly, New York and Los Angeles head up the list once more with 68 and 49 new hotels respectively, further growing their already well-established markets. Atlanta, Miami and Nashville follow with 42, 37 and 31 launches each.
Orlando and San Francisco will see 23 and 22 hotels open while Indianapolis and Chicago will both get 21 new hotels. Las Vegas concludes the list with 20 openings but is ahead of New York by added key count given the size of the properties due to launch there.
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Hotel brands growing in North America
Hilton takes the lead with Home2 Suites and Hampton by Hilton launching 62 and 52 hotels respectively. Cambria Hotels comes in third with 50 new properties and 5,795 rooms just ahead of aloft which will open 42 hotels with 6,110 rooms.
Hyatt Place and Fairfield Inn & Suites will grow their footprints by 36 and 35 hotels each while AC Hotels by Marriott and element Hotels will both open 34 properties. Hyatt House has 33 projects in its pipeline while Hilton Garden Inn concludes the top 10 with 30 planned openings.
Noteworthy properties launching around North America
The 9,000-room Wynn Hotel & Resort Punta Cana is currently the largest hotel in the North American pipeline. Slated to open by 2024 this property will add yet another casino and gaming option to the 50 existing establishments and is viewed critically by many local stakeholders who have doubts about the project’s size and scope.
The 1,000-room Kalahari Resort Round Rock will open by late 2020 and focus on the MICE market. The state-of-the-art convention centre will span 20,000 square metres (220,000 square feet) and include two vast ballrooms, 16 meeting rooms, a full-service business centre and spacious outdoor event facilities. Other amenities include Tom Foolery’s Adventure Park, the Spa Kalahari and Salon and a wide variety of dining options.
The 777-room Circa Hotel Las Vegas is an interesting property launching in Las Vegas in Q4, 2020. It will offer a range of eclectic restaurants, an outdoor bar, and a two-level casino. Circa will also provide several signature elements including that stadium-style sports book and a multi-tiered pool amphitheatre.