Room rates up for first time in three years, finds Hotels.com

The average room rate per night paid by UK travellers for accommodation when booking through Hotels.com has gone up for the first time in three years. The Expedia-owned online accommodation specialist says overnight prices rise 2% globally in 2017. Its … Continue reading →

The average room rate per night paid by UK travellers for accommodation when booking through Hotels.com has gone up for the first time in three years.

The Expedia-owned online accommodation specialist says overnight prices rise 2% globally in 2017.

Its Hotel Prices Index also found that UK travellers paid less per night in nearly a quarter of their 100 favourite destinations including the UAE, Malaysia and Jamaica while domestic prices remained the same.

The average price paid by Brits for a room in 2017 in their 100 most popular outbound countries was £111, compared to £106 the year before.

Prices rose in European destinations including Portugal (from £88 to £103), Spain (from £97 to £108) and the Netherlands (from £97 to £112).

The USA saw average prices go up 4% and retained its spot as the UK’s number one outbound destination through Hotels.com, ahead of Spain, which saw prices rise 11%.

Johan Svanstrom, president of the Hotels.com brand, said: “The slight increase in average accommodation prices globally combined with numerous markets having record visitor growth signals a strong travel economy and a growing desire from consumers to experience the world.

“Cultural events have inspired travel more than ever before as we aspire not to just stand by and observe the action, but to instead actually be part of it.”

Honeymoon hotspots such as Fiji, St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda paid up to 7% less per night compared to those booking in 2016.

The Maldives was where Brits spent the most on average for accommodation, pricing at £386 per night, followed by Monaco (£309) and the Seychelles (£296). In Nepal, Brits paid £41 on average for a hotel room, 2% less than in 2016.

For international travellers visiting the UK in 2017, London, Edinburgh and Manchester remained the most popular cities. The average price per night in Edinburgh increased 12% compared on 2016.