Hotel investments are increasingly turning towards the CEE
For years, the hotel market in Central and Eastern Europe was discussed through the same framework: cheaper entry, room for development, and potential yet to be confirmed. That description seems increasingly less accurate today. Capital has already arrived, international brands are expanding their presence, and hotel performance In parts of the region, they are beginning to compete with more established European markets.
Latest GlobalData analysis suggests that CEE, along with the wider Eastern European markets, is moving away from the recovery phase and entering a more stable development cycle.
Investors are no longer just buying the story of potential
The best indicator of change isn't the number of new announcements, but the money already moving through the market.
Prema according to Cushman & Wakefield's data, Hotel investments in six key CEE markets during 2025 rose by 170% compared with the previous year. The Czech Republic and Hungary led in activity, and a significant portion of capital ended up in the upscale and upper-upscale segment.
That changes the tone of the entire market. CEE is no longer of interest only to investors looking for a cheaper alternative to Western Europe. Increasingly, attention is also being paid to the quality of earnings, demand growth and the potential for scaling international hotel concepts.
Operations also provide a reason for optimism
Investment interest would struggle to sustain itself without healthier hotel performance. In the region, RevPAR rose by 8.91% during 2025, while the average daily room rate was up by 4.61%. Occupancy simultaneously increased by 2.7 percentage points.
At the same time, growth is not evenly distributed. Bulgaria and Romania recorded particularly strong progress, which shows that investors are increasingly viewing CEE less as a single market and more as distinguishing individual destinations according to maturity, demand and development potential.
The next phase will not be easy for existing hotels
Here comes the less pleasant part of the story. More capital means more new projects, more international operators and a higher standard of product. For some existing hotels, this will raise the question of investing in rooms, technology, distribution and positioning.
CBRE expects Some CEE markets could achieve better hotel performance than parts of Western Europe by 2026. In Poland and Romania, the development pipeline already amounts to approximately 7 to 10 per cent of the existing supply.
In other words, the region is no longer just trying to catch up with more developed hotel industries markets. In some destinations, it is already entering a phase where it will set the pace itself. The question arises as to how this will affect the region and investors.
