Trophy hotel deals in the U.S. have grabbed headlines in 2026, with some of the largest hotel transactions in years changing hands.
But underneath those marquee sales, a different acquisition market is taking shape, with a shifting mix of buyers.
“If you look at the acquisition market, what is trading — yes, we’re seeing these big luxury trades — but when you back that out, the bulk of the trades are institutional capital offloading and mid-market family office buyers buying,” said Ryan Bosch, principal at Phoenix-based Arriba Capital.
Bosch said those buyers are picking up select-service and compact full-service hotels from institutional owners including Blackstone, Brookfield, Highgate and REITs like Ashford Hospitality Trust. He said regional banks and private debt funds are financing many of those acquisitions, with buyers also getting more creative with their capital stacks.
“The debt markets are extremely flush right now across the board … I’m seeing more creativity in the [capital] stack than we have in the last 12 months,” he said.
Interviews with hotel capital markets executives point to an acquisition market heading into the fall with plenty of capital, but uneven liquidity. Developers are increasingly turning to acquisitions as an alternative to costly new construction, trophy hotels continue to trade, and REITs are reemerging as buyers. But deal size matters: Smaller acquisitions are getting financed more efficiently, while larger transactions can still struggle to find enough buyers and capital to make the numbers pencil.
Larger means less liquid
Jared Schlosser, head of credit originations and Commercial PACE for Atlanta-based private lender Peachtree Group, said the larger the hotel deal, the less liquidity there is today.
He said unlike in previous years, Peachtree has done several $100 million-plus deals in 2026 because relatively few lenders can handle transactions that size.
“There’s a limited universe that can do a hotel deal of that size,” Schlosser said.
More of those larger loans reaching Peachtree also reflects what’s happening at the other end of the market (sub-$30 million deals), Schlosser said.
“That tells me the smaller deals are getting done by banks, and the bigger deals are getting done by private,” he said.
Schlosser said new equity and a reset basis make the deals more attractive to lenders than refinancings.
“If you’re a lender and you have the choice between doing an acquisition and getting fresh cash in or doing a refinance where you’re actually not getting fresh cash in, you’re going to pick the acquisition deal 10 times out of 10,” he said.
Developers become buyers
The high cost of new construction is creating another class of hotel buyer: developers who have become acquirers, according to Michael DiPrima, an executive vice president overseeing the West Region for CBRE.
“When you think about how expensive it is to develop today… or just the timing from when you break ground to the time that hotel opens, oftentimes developers can buy assets today and be at 50% of what it would cost to build,” he said.
“Now they’ve pivoted to saying we’re looking to acquire hotels that have deep renovation and/or PIP needs because there’s a construction element to it. There’s a value-add component where we can pitch our services,” DiPrama said, adding this is especially true in Southern California right now. “That is definitely a common theme that we’re seeing, but also it’s the strength of the private capital that’s out there today.”
Developers aren’t the only private buyers taking advantage of the current acquisition environment, DiPrama said. He said single-family offices are flush with capital and are increasingly investing directly rather than through funds.
“There continues to be a very strong dynamic of single-family offices looking to invest in hospitality,” he said.
Those buyers also want a specific type of hotel, DiPrama said.
“There’s also a flight to quality for what they’re looking for. The family offices specifically want to have newer vintage, or they want something special within the luxury real estate side,” he said.
More buyers, fewer deals
Kevin Davis, Americas CEO of JLL Hotels & Hospitality, said JLL has seen more large transactions and a higher average deal size in 2026. U.S. hotel transaction volume reached $13.7 billion during the first half of 2026, up 45% year over year, according to JLL.
Davis expects fewer hotels to come to market in the fourth quarter, possibly increasing competition among buyers before deal flow picks up again in early 2027.
“There have been a lot of deals in the market in 2026 that took investors’ time and attention,” he said. “There will be fewer deals in the market in the fourth quarter than there were in the second and third quarters, and as a result, I think you will see investors competing for fewer opportunities. So it’ll be more competitive.
“That is a prelude to a very strong start to 2027, with a lot more transactions being in the market.”
That buying window for private capital could be getting more competitive. Davis said hotel REITs, largely absent from the acquisition market in recent years, are beginning to return as bidders.
“It certainly means downward pressure on cap rates. It means a more robust competitive environment when you’re selling assets,” he said. “When REITs were out of the market, private equity had their run of the place. They could chase assets without fear that lower-cost-of-capital buyers were there.”
For institutional-quality hotels that fit naturally into lodging REIT portfolios — what Davis calls “REIT food” — the return of REIT buyers could make an already competitive acquisition market even tougher for private equity.
“There’s a good likelihood that a REIT will prevail over private equity,” he said.