“Consumers should remember that hotel affordability across the world has not been this good since 2004.” – David Roche, President Hotels.com
Hotels.com Hotel Price Index is a good report for the frequent guest to gauge global hotel prices and price changes over the past year. There are many tables and graphs for the reader accompanied with some insightful commentary that coincides with industry forecasts from other sources I’ve read this summer.
The survey provides travel destination indicators like Bali, Indonesia. Hotel prices have gone through the roof year-over-year – up 57% from $129 per night 2009-Q2 to $203 per night 2010-Q2 in the wake of ”Eat, Pray, Love” fascination with this location. A flood of tourism dollars is a good sort of tsunami for the region, but rapidly inflated prices steer me to better value locations for my travels.
Bargain destinations like Ireland and Portugal may be the better choice for a budget vacation. Eastern Europe is giving out great value for travel dollars.
The Hotel Price Index preface notes by David Roche, President of Hotels.com, indicate hotel room rates have shown a global rise, about 2% year-over-year for the first time since 2007.
Asia is recovering most rapidly. Singapore and Bali aid that growth.
Much of North America, Europe and the Middle East are sitting at hotel rates common to 2004. David Roche points to corporate travel picking up more in North America than in Europe in 2010.
And staycations seem here to stay. Recession travel. There are tables showing the average room rates for the 50 states and major cities.
Hotels.com Hotel Price Index survey
- Global price changes in the first half of 2010
Overall
By region - Price changes in global destinations
Prices across the world’s top cities
Most expensive destinations
Highest price rises and falls - U.S. hotel prices by state
- U.S. hotel prices by city
- Caribbean and Latin American destinations
- European city destinations
- Prices paid at home and away
- Where to go for $150 or $100 per night
- Average room prices by star rating
- Luxury for less
- Travel habits
Top U.S. destinations for U.S. travelers
Top overseas destinations for U.S. travelers
Top U.S. destinations for travelers from overseas
I particularly like the sections “Where to Go for $150 and $100 per night” and “Average room prices by star rating”. Cities where I can expect to find a 4-star hotel for $150 per night is the kind of information I find valuable for travel planning.
“Average Room Prices by Star Rating” table shows a European vacation can be upscale and significantly cheaper if you stay in hotels in countries like Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. 4-star hotels may be half the rate in cities around these countries compared to Paris, Rome and London.
I look most closely at the spread between the 3-star, 4-star and 5-star room rates. In Europe I particularly prefer the 4-star rating due to several experiences in unacceptable 3-star hotels. I am looking for a place where there is a low spread in room rates between 4-star and 3-star hotels and a high spread between 4-star and 5-star. A place like Amsterdam shows a 4-star hotel is on average $36 more than a 3-star hotel. The rate difference is a high $72 to move up to 5-star room rates. This is a good example of a city where the step up to 4-star is half the cost compared to the step up from 4-star to 5-star rates.
15 cities with the best 5-star value is another great table for cities where a luxury hotel is still available for under $200 per night. Las Vegas is the only cheap hotel destination in the USA.
New York City just blows my mind with its room rates. $150 per night doesn’t even buy a 2-star hotel room. $300 is the average room rate for a 4-star hotel. When I wrote about the InterContinental Hotel New York Times Square yesterday all I could think is how I could save $500 to $600 per night on this luxury hotel by using 40,000 points. Loyalty points are a great investment travel plan if you have need for NYC hotel rooms and you are paying your own bill.
There are several Starwood resorts in Portugal on my bucket list and I see Cash & Points awards at 4,000 points + $60 for a hotel like the Convento de Espinheiro, Evora. Provided the right SPG promotion I might even go for 149€ per night. My frequent flyer accounts call to me – redeem.
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