Warsaw is building hotel rooms faster than any other CEE capital
Warsaw is on track to add hotel rooms at a pace no other Central or Eastern European capital can match this year. According to Cushman & Wakefield's MarketBeat CEE-6 Hospitality H1 2026 report, the Polish capital is forecast to grow its hotel room supply by 7.2 percent in 2026, well ahead of second-placed Budapest at 4.2 percent. Across the six CEE capitals combined, supply is expected to rise by 2.8 percent for the full year.
That pipeline is landing in a market where occupancy is already the highest among the CEE-6, suggesting that demand is absorbing new inventory rather than being diluted by it.
Investment volume dipped, but the deals tell a broader story
Poland recorded four hotel transactions in the first half of 2026, covering 445 rooms and totalling EUR 59 million. That figure is 24 percent below the same period in 2025, though Cushman & Wakefield analysts note that last year's first half was unusually strong due to several large deals, making direct comparison less meaningful.
The transactions that did close were geographically varied. The 173-room Hampton by Hilton Krakow Airport, the 89-room IBB Hotel Gdańsk, and the 133-room Havet Hotel Resort & Spa in the Baltic coast resort of Dźwirzyno all changed hands. That mix of city-centre business hotels and a leisure coastal property reflects what Maciej Prończuk, senior consultant for valuation and advisory at Cushman & Wakefield CEE and SEE, described as a market developing along several different paths simultaneously.
Operating performance is improving, if modestly
RevPAR across the CEE-6 rose 8.2 percent year on year in the first half of 2026, driven by a 4.7 percent increase in average daily rates and a 2.1 percentage point gain in occupancy. Poland's RevPAR growth of 4.6 percent was more moderate than standout performers like Budapest (up 15.3 percent) and Bratislava (up 13.5 percent), but it is positive and running ahead of the European average of 3.0 percent.
For context, average RevPAR across Europe stood at EUR 101 in the first half of 2026. Eastern Europe as a sub-region outperformed at 6.0 percent growth.
Capitalisation rates for prime hotel assets in Warsaw held steady, ranging between 6.25 and 8.5 percent across the CEE-6, with no compression recorded in the Polish capital during the period.
The broader European picture
European hotel investment reached EUR 11.7 billion in the first half of 2026, down 9.5 percent year on year but nearly 20 percent above the ten-year average for the same period. The UK led with EUR 3.22 billion in transactions, followed by Spain at EUR 2.66 billion. A notable trend was an 86 percent year-on-year increase in activity from Asia-Pacific investors.
Several large portfolio and platform transactions are reportedly being prepared for the second half of 2026, which could lift full-year European totals considerably.
Why it matters for hosts
Independent operators in Warsaw and other Polish cities are entering a period of meaningful new competition. A 7.2 percent supply increase in Warsaw means more branded and midscale inventory entering the market over the next twelve months. For smaller independent properties, this is the moment to sharpen what differentiates them: local character, flexible service, and direct-booking relationships that larger branded hotels cannot easily replicate. Properties in leisure destinations like the Baltic coast also appear to be attracting serious investor attention, which signals growing visitor demand in those markets and an opportunity for independent hosts to position themselves ahead of further development.
The figures and analysis in this post were first reported by Eurobuild CEE, drawing on Cushman & Wakefield's MarketBeat CEE-6 Hospitality H1 2026 report, published 28 August 2026.
First reported by eurobuildcee.com.