For Skift’s annual company meeting in New York, Rafat Ali tries to put the participants in Manhattan hotels. Last year, his team scoured the city for reasonable rates, but came up empty. Each room cost hundreds of dollars, so all but one of the attendees were sent across the river, to New Jersey. The last-minute guest got stuck by the Lincoln Tunnel, in a modest property charging luxury prices during the popular fall tourism season.
That spot, the Yotel, “used to be cheap, and now, of course, it’s too much,” said Ali, the founder and CEO of Skift, which specializes in travel news and research. “It was like $400 or $500 a night.”
Hotel rates rise with inflation, a simple fact of economics. Goods and services — from the price of eggs for the breakfast buffet to the hourly wage of housekeepers — cost more, so properties adjust their rates accordingly. The midscale segment, which caters to travelers who have graduated from budget but are still several pay grades from luxury, is especially vulnerable.
“What used to cost $100 now costs $150 and what used to cost $150 now costs $200,” said Jan Freitag, national director for hospitality market analytics at CoStar. “That’s just a way of life.”
According to CoStar, the average daily rate of U.S. hotels jumped from $131.56 in 2019 to $160.49 in 2025. Some destinations surpass the national average, such as New York City ($333.81 a night), Boston ($232.51) and Miami ($224.24).
Freitag said that, in all but the high-end sector, the increase in hotel prices is below the inflation rate, so room rates, when adjusted for inflation, are less today than they were several years ago.
But ultimately, you are spending more money for the same standard room with the same basic amenities at the same chain hotel. You’re not getting a more spacious room or finer linens, though you might get stuck with a resort fee. (The price is for hotel only, not including taxes or resort fees, which vary wildly by destination.)
The new reality can force travelers to reassess their trips or retrench. Hotel insiders say guests are adapting to the changes by downgrading to cheaper hotels, sacrificing location and amenities, paying more but shortening their trips, or shifting their vacation mindset from an affordable getaway to a splurge.
Of course, bragging about your stay at a Best Western or Holiday Inn won’t impress your friends like a Four Seasons or Ritz-Carlton would, even if your bill is exorbitant.
Where did the old $150 rate go?
The midscale hotel of late hasn’t gone away; it’s just moved on to richer pastures.
“The $150 price point is really difficult to find in the hotels you used to find it in,” said Connor Vanderholm, CEO of Topline, a revenue management company based in Idaho.
Vanderholm, whose firm sets the rates for about 200 U.S. hotels, said accommodations in smaller or less prominent markets still charge around $100 for, say, a TownePlace Suites or Fairfield Inn, an “upper midscale” brand. (Chain hotels are filed under a dizzying number of categories, from budget to luxury and every subgroup in between.) In emerging or established destinations, however, you may have to raise your budget or lower your expectations.
“Five years ago, you were able to find $120 rates at a Marriott property in downtown Boise,” Vanderholm said. “But now, you’ll find $250 rates because demand has changed.”
During a trip to Las Vegas — where the average daily rate is $183.52, according to the city’s convention and visitors authority — Ali became acutely aware of the existential threat to the middle-tier segment. He ordered hot water for tea and was informed by his hotel’s room service that it would cost $17. The sticker shock from a pot of water was the catalyst for his December article, “How U.S. Lodging Abandoned the Middle Class.”
In the piece, he states that the hospitality industry is ignoring the “$120-$150 family road-trip hotel with character.” He described the slighted group as the “orphaned middle of the development pipeline” and lamented the dilemma of the midrange traveler.
They must choose between “expensive for what it is” and “cheap but risky,” or spending more than they care to or downgrading to a level they don’t care for.
Searching for the elusive midscale hotel
Earlier this week, I asked Google AI to find me an NYC hotel for $150 in June. It replied that this task would be “challenging,” but still gave it a shot.
My virtual assistant recommended a three-star hotel in Great Neck, Long Island; a pair of chain hotels on Staten Island; and a DoubleTree in Fort Lee, New Jersey. The sole Manhattan property on its list, the Jane Hotel in the West Village, was sold in 2022 and turned into a private club and eurohostel.
On review sites and social media, guests such as Katharine Shilcutt warned others to avoid the property, citing such reasons as “the bait-and-switch remodeling, the mosquitoes, the hazmat crew and the sense that you’re infringing on the wealthy private club-goers who have taken over what used to be an amazingly charming and eccentric New York hotel.”
An even greater obstacle was the $199 rate that Shilcutt said she paid in October.
Meanwhile, Chekitan S. Dev, a distinguished professor at Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration, conducted a real online search for NYC hotels. He pulled up a mix of independent one-star accommodations, motor lodges, hostels and a private bedroom called Hello Paris.
These are reasonable options, Dev said, if “you just want a place to put your head down for the night and you’re not worried about some strange noises or maybe an occasional wild animal.”
Randall Carroll, a business law professor at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, had better success down south. After a powerful ice storm last month, he spent two weeks in hotels waiting for the utility companies to restore the power and water in his home. Not one of the midscale chain hotels exceeded $150. Many were, in fact, less.
“The $150 hotel is on the endangered species list, but it’s not yet extinct,” he said. “There’s groupings of them, and they tend to be where the living is cheaper.”
Some brands are staying true
In conversations about midscale hotels, hotel consultants often mention Choice Hotels and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, many of whose brands — Days Inn, Super 8, La Quinta and Microtel — typically charge $80 to $130, according to Scott Strickland, Wyndham’s chief commercial officer.
Several Hilton brands also occupy the middle tier. Of the 15 brands listed on the company’s most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Tru by Hilton had the lowest average nightly rate, at $121.82. CoStar’s Freitag described Tru, which launched in 2017, as “a massive success.”
Three years ago, Hilton unveiled Spark, which it classifies as “premium economy.” The rates for the company’s 19th brand are normally less than Tru, said Alexandra Jaritz, a Hilton senior vice president.
Spark follows the hermit crab’s playbook, moving into well-worn structures. The inaugural property occupies a former Days Inn in Mystic, Connecticut. For the first weekend of March, it cost half as much ($114) as the Hampton Inn and Suites Mystic, also a Hilton brand.
“It’s their way of addressing a more tired, aging property,” said Freitag, adding that the properties are nicely renovated and a good value with breakfast included.
Nicholas Curcio, a budding hotelier and MBA student at MIT’s Sloan School, is unimpressed with the current midrange offerings.
For years, the former investment banker has jumped in his car and driven thousands of miles for the pure thrill of it. On these cross-country adventures, he has been consistently disappointed by the lodging options. The accommodations in the $100 category, he said, often have stained carpets, smell of pool chlorine or cigarettes and serve powdered eggs or frosted flakes for breakfast.
Properties one tier up have better quality and design, but the stay will put you to sleep — and not in a good way. “It’s a very cookie cutter, highly standardized, highly corporatized product that is not interesting,” Curcio said.
Last year, Curcio, 28, teamed up with two CitizenM executives to reimagine the midscale hotel. Their creation, Bamboo Hotels, will feature modular construction assembled like giant Lego pieces and a Japandi aesthetic, a fusion of Japanese and Scandinavian minimalism. Hipster amenities will include a cold plunge, sauna and airstream food truck on the rooftop terrace, and Xbox and a drop-down projector in the rooms. Curcio said they plan to debut their hotel by 2027.
“If we can successfully create a true home base for digital nomads, adventure seekers and the design-focused ‘Instagramable’ crowd, we can create a strong community among road trippers at a national scale,” said Curcio, the company’s CEO.
Curcio said their target rate is $130 a night, but the price could inch north in destinations with strong demand, such as Olympic National Park in Washington state, slated to be the site of the first Bamboo.
Tricks to finding a midscale hotel
So how can the midscale traveler stay in their lane and avoid the off-ramp to economy lodgings?
Hotel experts say check the calendar. Avoid high season and dates when special events are rolling through the area, such as the World Cup or Taylor Swift. For destinations popular among leisure travelers, visit during the week; for places frequented by business travelers, go over the weekend.
Sign up for a hotel’s loyalty program, especially the big three: Hilton, Marriott and IHG. Use those discounts for AAA members, seniors or military. Be open to staying in noncentral locations with downscaled amenities.
For reservations, Vanderholm suggested starting your search at least three months out, when hotels will set rates high then slowly drop them if rooms are not selling as anticipated.
Once you book a room, he said to watch for falling prices or cheaper rates at other properties. Depending on the hotel’s policy, you can rebook or cancel within 24 hours of your arrival. If you find a better price through a third-party site, contact the hotel, which should offer a price-match guarantee. Some companies, such as Hilton and Marriott, will add a 25 percent discount to the matched rate.
Vanderholm also recommends booking on a Sunday, when revenue managers are off and a computer algorithm is in charge of setting prices. Come Monday, he said, the staff may push the rates back up.
For day-of bookings, he said to call the hotel directly and tell the reservationist you noticed their competitors were charging $150 or less. Ask them straight out, “Can you cut me a deal?”
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