For real estate investors conditioned to chase hot deals in the Sun Belt, the Midwest can sometimes be an afterthought. However, there are a number of compelling reasons why hospitality properties in the region are a good bet.
One advantage is balance across demand cycles, as Midwest hospitality assets tend to perform on different rhythms than leisure-driven Sun Belt markets. As an example, the strongest revenue per available room (RevPAR) activity in the Midwest last year occurred between July and September, according to Hotel Data, whereas the South saw its strongest RevPAR between March and May.
Another factor is supply risk. According to Lodging Econometrics data, the top five markets with hotel projects in the pipeline as of the fourth quarter of 2025 were all in the Sun Belt: Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, Nashville and Austin. In contrast, Midwest cities like Indianapolis, Chicago and Milwaukee, where new hotel supply has been limited, are likely to maintain stronger pricing power for existing assets.
Additionally, insurance exposure is dramatically lower in most Midwest states compared to coastal and hurricane-prone Sun Belt markets. That could be a significant component of investment strategy in the years ahead. According to the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s 2026 State of the Industry report, hotel operating costs rose four times faster than revenue between 2019 and 2025. While the costs for utilities, labor, operations and other line items ranged from 15% to 28% growth during that time, insurance costs skyrocketed by 111%.
Market Fundamentals Shaping Performance
The biggest downside to investing in Midwest hotel properties is seasonality, with demand concentrated in summer months and compressed in the winter. Despite this, a handful of Midwest cities are beginning to defy the seasonal norm entirely. Madison, for example, is able to generate hotel demand across all four seasons, due to the presence of a diversified economy, state government and a robust convention business.
The main driving force in Madison, however, is the University of Wisconsin. All across Big Ten markets, athletic calendars are widening, which helps ease compression windows that used to end with football season. As elite coastal universities grow more selective, top students (including a rising number of international students) are taking serious looks at institutions like UW-Madison, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Vanderbilt in Nashville and Washington University in St. Louis.
Last year, Bradford Allen acquired TownePlace Suites Nashville Midtown, a 193-key hotel in Nashville. Beyond Nashville’s well-established appeal, the property’s location near Vanderbilt University offered something more durable: consistent, need-based demand from one of the region’s leading academic medical centers, layered on top of the university’s own steady draw of students, families and visiting faculty.
Healthcare is another durable, if unexpected, demand driver in the Midwest. Medical and hospital-adjacent travel has become one of the fastest-growing sources of hotel demand nationally, and the Midwest punches above its weight. Markets like Columbus, St. Louis and Madison are anchored by major university hospital systems that draw patients, specialists and researchers year-round. With the U.S. population aging and medical travel accelerating, that demand floor is only deepening. For hotel investors, proximity to a major academic medical center is increasingly a thesis in its own right.
Kansas City is an interesting hospitality case study at the moment as the market is in the midst of a massive dual-stadium development, with the Chiefs finalizing plans for a new $3 billion domed stadium and the Royals moving toward a $1.9 billion ballpark and entertainment district downtown. In markets such as Kansas City, where hotel demand is less tied to leisure tourism, major infrastructure spending is creating a strong pipeline for hospitality growth.
One note of caution worth flagging for Midwest investors: not all demand is created equal right now. Markets heavily reliant on Canadian visitation should be evaluated carefully given current cross-border travel headwinds. And the FIFA World Cup, which many hotel owners expected to be a windfall, has delivered a more complicated picture as hotels in U.S. host cities are slashing rates amid a wave of cancelations.
Stability as Strategy
The Sun Belt isn’t going away. But for investors looking to balance exposure, reduce insurance costs, navigate labor volatility and find assets priced below replacement cost in markets with real, durable demand drivers, the Midwest has quietly become one of the more interesting places to be shopping for those seeking a long-term hedge.
The demand drivers assembling across the region, from stadium districts to expanding medical corridors to university towns attracting a new generation of students, suggest the story is still early. The Midwest has rarely been described as a market with momentum. But momentum has a way of arriving without an announcement, and the investors already in position tend to be the ones who saw it coming.
A version of this editorial previously appeared in REJournals on May 7, 2026.
Author
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HOSPITALITY
AGHFAR ARUN
Chicago, IL
