Global hotel rates rose 4.5 per cent year on year to $200 per night in the third quarter, the slowest quarterly growth of 2026, according to UK-based hotel booking technology provider HotelHub.
Year-on-year rate growth has eased each quarter of this year, from 7.2 per cent in the first quarter to 5.2 per cent in the second. Still, the global average nightly rate hit a five-year high of $216 in September.
The quarterly HotelHub Index analysed more than 1.6 million bookings made via HotelHub technology between July and September 2026.
"It would be easy to read Q3 as good news for business travellers, and in one sense it is: rate growth is slowing," HotelHub chief commercial officer Paul Raymond said in a statement. "But slower inflation isn't the same as lower prices; rates are still considerably higher than a year ago – and higher again than two years ago."
In Europe, the region's average nightly rate rose 2.3 per cent year on year to $193. That marks a significant slowdown in growth from the 13.9 per cent year-on-year rise recorded in the first quarter, and the 6.7 per cent seen in the second.
"The latest data raises the question of whether European rates are approaching a ceiling on what corporate travel budgets will tolerate," the analysis noted.
Several European cities where rates skyrocketed earlier in the year have levelled off. In Milan, third-quarter rates rose just 0.6 per cent year on year, compared with a 29.3 per cent jump in the first quarter.
Amsterdam rates rose 2 per cent in the third quarter, down from 18.6 per cent in the first, while Madrid rates fell 9.5 per cent year on year after rising 8.6 per cent in the second quarter.
Though rate growth is cooling, rates remain historically high. Across the first nine months of 2026, the global average nightly rate booked by HotelHub users was $197, up 5.6 per cent year on year and 23.9 per cent higher than in 2022, when pandemic travel restrictions eased.
In North America, rate growth is gathering steam after a flat 2025. The average nightly rate increased 6.5 per cent year on year during the third quarter to $229.
North American markets got a leg up from the final weeks of the FIFA World Cup during the third quarter. Mexico City reported a 12.6 per cent year-on-year rise in the average nightly rate and Los Angeles posted a 9.8 per cent increase. The most significant rate increase for the third quarter, however, came from non-host city Chicago, where the average nightly rate grew 15.2 per cent year on year to $413.
The HotelHub analysis notes that while rate rises vary from market to market, even within the same region, business travel is nevertheless more costly than it was a couple of years ago. Global average spend per booking in the third quarter rose 5.9 per cent year on year to $506.
Lead times also got longer, with travellers booking an average of 17 days ahead of their stay, up 4.4 per cent year on year, "suggesting companies are seeking to plan trips earlier as they grapple with the strain on their budgets," according to HotelHub.