Some signs point to this recovery:
Shift for hybrid businesses – The revival of business-focused travel (bleisure) favors hotels, which offer a consistent structure when rentals remain limited. In NYC, for example, short-term rentals (STR) fell 50% to 30% in the 12 months to November 2024, approximately 1.8 million fewer nights, while hotels advanced with 1.2 million more nights sold.
What travelers expect, and where hotels shine – meeting spaces, professional services, flexibility. All of this empowers hotels to meet the complex expectations of today's public.
The workday became an opportunity – many hotels already offer day-use, catering to those who want to rest, work, or recharge between flights, something that most seasonal rentals can't offer with the same structure.
Smarter distribution and strong connectivity – Several platforms help hotels align content, rates, and positioning, while STR faces technological limitations in competing in these “corporate niches” with true scale.
Patterns of behavior between generations - the boomers They look for reliability, millennials Smart convenience in a bleisure plan, and Gen Z brings unpredictability. Hotels are already prepared to cater to this mix with more structured policies, content, and rates.
The ecosystem is not war, but synergy – it's not Hotels x STR, but a hybrid system. Whoever achieves integration, flexibility, and the traveler's purpose wins.
Hotels are once again setting the pace of experience.
When demand becomes less connected to the domestic economy and more connected to structure, predictability, and purpose, hotels regain their footing. In New York, the decline in seasonal rentals, down 50% year-over-year, accompanied the rise in hotels with tangible increases in demand.
The logic is simple and powerful: business trips with a touch of leisure (bleisure) demand more than just a room; they require a platform (meeting rooms, robust Wi-Fi, the ability to rest well, even short corporate lunches). These are touchpoints that position hotels as strategic partners for complex itineraries.
When the day still has value for the guest, a pause between meetings, a mental moment to rest, a stopover that deserves dignity, the day-use It becomes gold. Even more so when it's marketed with technology that allows that time to be sold in an agile and integrated manner.
And if STR is still struggling due to a lack of connectivity with travel platforms, corporate rates, and multigenerational channels, hotels have already made progress. With consistent content, clear policies, and seamless integration, they are consolidating a firm competitive advantage.
This isn't a dispute, it's a dance between models that, when well orchestrated, expands the offering and meets the needs of the changing traveler.