{"id":1172,"date":"2026-08-17T16:56:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/?p=1172"},"modified":"2026-08-17T16:56:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T14:56:49","slug":"bye-bye-mid-range-hotel-goodbye-middle-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/2026\/08\/17\/bye-bye-mid-range-hotel-goodbye-middle-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Bye bye mid-range hotel. Goodbye, middle class."},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last few years, a simple truth has become difficult to ignore: The middle-class travel experience is getting squeezed.<\/strong> A recent Washington Post travel piece frames it in a way every hotelier will recognize: The \u201c$150 hotel room\u201d is increasingly difficult to find in the places and brands where it used to exist.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article points to a measurable shift in US hotel pricing (similar to what has been happening in many other destinations). Average daily rate rose from $131.56 in 2019 to $160.49 in 2025<\/strong>, and major markets are far beyond that national average (New York City cited at $333.81, Boston $232.51, Miami $224.24). Guests are adapting by downgrading, moving further out, shortening trips, or reluctantly \u201csplurging\u201d just to get something acceptable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where my \u201cmiddle class is disappearing\u201d theory gets practical for hospitality. It is not only about income brackets. It is about the vanishing space between \u201caffordable and decent\u201d and \u201ccheap but risky.\u201d<\/strong> The article captures that tension with travelers feeling forced into a binary choice: pay much more than planned, or accept quality\/location compromises that used to be unnecessary. And it resonates deeply as it's something I've been flagging for some time now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Demand is polarizing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When the middle gets thinner, hotel demand becomes more polarized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one end, premium and luxury travelers keep traveling, because price sensitivity is lower. At the other end, value travelers still travel, but they trade down aggressively, accept longer commutes, or reduce trip length. The segment that gets pressured is the one many portfolios were built on: midscale and upper-midscale that used to feel like \u201csmart value.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when rates are \u201cbelow inflation\u201d in real terms, guests still experience the pain because they are paying more cash for what feels like the same room; and sometimes with added fees layered on top. That psychological gap is where dissatisfaction grows, and where brand trust erodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cvalue narrative\u201d breaks. The hidden hospitality risk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hospitality does not compete only on price. It competes on perceived fairness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a guest believes, \u201cI'm paying more but getting the same,\u201d the story becomes: \u201cHotels are taking advantage.\u201d That story spreads faster than any STR report. And it changes behavior: shorter stays, fewer add-ons, more deal hunting, more alternative accommodation consideration, and more negative review bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is also happening in a broader inflation backdrop where consumers are still feeling price pressure in everyday categories, keeping sensitivity high even when headline inflation cools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what am I meant to do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer is not \u201cdiscount until the middle comes back.\u201d The answer is to rebuild the middle through clarity, product design, and communication.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the middle-class guest is forced to spend more, they will demand one of two things: confidence or control.<\/strong> Confidence means visibly better basics (cleanliness, sleep quality, breakfast, Wi-Fi, hassle-free parking). Control means modular choice (room-only versus bundles, transparent fees, clear upsell ladders, and loyalty that delivers real savings without games).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where revenue management becomes less about setting the \u201cright\u201d rate and more about engineering an offer that feels defensible. Because in a polarized market, your pricing can be correct and still be rejected if the value story is weak.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201c$150 room\u201d may be disappearing. The bigger question is whether hospitality is willing to design (and explain) what the new middle should look like.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the last few years, a simple truth has become difficult to ignore: The middle-class travel experience is getting squeezed. A recent Washington Post travel piece [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1172"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1174,"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions\/1174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torreshospitalityconsulting.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}