The Caribbean/Mexico hotel development pipeline comprises 128 hotels totaling 18,326 rooms, according to the January 2011 STR Construction Pipeline Report released this week.

Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Midscale segment accounted for the largest portion of rooms in the total active pipeline with 27.1 percent and 4,964 rooms, followed by the Upscale segment (20.5 percent with 3,765 rooms) and the Unaffiliated segment (17.8 percent with 3,253 rooms). Two of the Chain Scale segments accounted for less than 10 percent of rooms in the total active pipeline: the Upper Upscale segment (5.9 percent with 1,089 rooms) and the Economy segment (0.7 percent with 122 rooms).

“The Caribbean/Mexico pipeline has remained steady in most Chain Scales according to January 2011 year-over-year comparisons,” said Lana Yoshii, VP of content management at STR. “The Luxury segment reported 20 projects in the active pipeline during 2010, while currently they are reporting 17. There has been no movement in the Upscale segment, with 22 projects reported in both 2010 and 2011. With financing difficult to come by, many projects are delaying construction. For instance, there are six Luxury projects In Construction as compared with the same time last year when there were 10.”