HVS Market Report

In Brief: The Coastal Virginia lodging market is among the Mid-Atlantic’s many steady hotel areas, supported by a varied mix of military, maritime, federal government, company, and leisure need. While Virginia Beach continues to command the area’s greatest rates, Norfolk/Portsmouth has actually led RevPAR development in 2026, highlighting the strength of year-round need throughout the area’s unique seaside submarkets.

3 Lodging Markets Working Together

The Virginia Beach– Chesapeake– Norfolk, VA– NC Metropolitan Statistical Area is among the biggest and most varied lodging markets in the Mid-Atlantic, extending from Williamsburg to Chesapeake and Suffolk. This short article concentrates on the 3 main seaside submarkets of Newport News/Hampton, Norfolk/Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach, which gain from direct access to Hampton Roads Harbor, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic shoreline. These seaside markets drive much of the area’s accommodations efficiency, supported by a varied mix of federal government, military, maritime, company, and leisure need.

Tenancy throughout the wider Norfolk– Virginia Beach market has actually stayed mostly steady, bracketing 62% throughout the last 5 years, simply shy of the pre-pandemic peak of approximately 63%. ADR has actually revealed a comparable pattern, keeping in mind just minimal year-over-year development just recently. ADR in 2025 is almost 25% greater than pre-pandemic levels, with general RevPAR efficiency up 20%. This rates strength shows the area’s varied need base that consists of military and federal government activity, company and group travel, and Virginia Beach’s considerable leisure need, permitting operators to keep rates throughout durations of reasonably minimal tenancy development.

A Closer Look at Performance Across Coastal Virginia

Efficiency patterns amongst the 3 seaside submarkets have actually differed recently. Virginia Beach is the area’s rate leader at practically $180 YTD through September 2026, gaining from beachfront tourist, sports-related travel, and convention activity.

Norfolk/Portsmouth delights in the stability offered by marine setups, maritime commerce, federal government activity, and service travel, publishing the greatest year-over-year RevPAR development amongst the 3 submarkets year-to-date (YTD) through September 2026. Norfolk/Portsmouth has actually attained the biggest RevPAR gain considering that 2019 in this area, surpassing the pre-pandemic efficiency by almost 23% in the newest calendar year. In contrast, Virginia Beach and Newport News/Hampton have actually attained RevPAR gains of approximately 16% and 22%, respectively, given that 2019.

Newport News/Hampton provides a various story. Following numerous years of development, and regardless of a strong structure of military, aerospace, defense professional, and shipbuilding need, the submarket experienced a RevPAR decrease in 2025– the only seaside submarket to publish a correction. In the YTD information through September 2026, all metrics have actually increased. RevPAR is up over 4%, although this is still the slowest development of the 3. The variety of the marketplace’s need motorists supplies balance throughout the area and assists to insulate it from variations in any single source of need.

Coastal Virginia’s Three Markets Show Different YTD RevPAR Trends Through September Source: HVS Research, Virginia Lodging Report– September 2026

The outcomes show that even within a varied local accommodations market, private submarkets can carry out in a different way, and one year does not develop a long-lasting pattern. The more comprehensive strength of Coastal Virginia today is not that every submarket is growing however, rather, that the area’s different need motorists supply stability in spite of distinctions in regional efficiency. Looking Ahead

The specifying strength of the Coastal Virginia lodging market might be less about attaining considerable gains in tenancy and more about the marketplace’s capability to sustain and raise space rates throughout a varied need base. The 3 submarkets highlight complementary sides of the local lodging economy: Norfolk/Portsmouth and Newport News/Hampton gain from a considerable base of year-round federal government, organization, and group need, while Virginia Beach supplies an effective leisure element efficient in creating rate premiums throughout peak durations. The marketplace’s varied mix of need sources supports year-round hotel efficiency and lowers dependence on any single tourist source or season.

As travel patterns have actually developed following the pandemic and the market goes into a more recognized operating environment, future hotel efficiency will significantly depend upon the capability to catch higher-rated organization, broaden shoulder-season need, and profit from the area’s continuous financial and institutional financial investment. In this context, Coastal Virginia’s lodging market goes into the coming years with a significant structural benefit: a varied need base that can support rates power even when tenancy development is more modest.

At HVS, information is just the beginning point. By preserving a regional market existence and engaging straight with crucial market gamers, we provide real-time insight and present information customized to each market. The result is analysis that shows today’s market truths, not the other day’s presumptions. To find out more on the Coastal Virginia lodging market or assistance on hotel financial investment choices lined up with your technique and threat tolerance, contact Chelsey Leffet or Jerod Byrd, MAI, your HVS Mid-Atlantic hospitality professionals.

Source: View the initial short article at HVS