Hotels in Britain are the costliest in Europe, with the price of an overnight
stay in London rising by 22 per cent last year.
The average price for a room in the capital was £107 but Bath, at an average
of £114 per night, offers the nation’s most expensive lodging.
Travel experts say that the rapid increase in London hotel rates is because of
the city’s resilience as a tourist destination for domestic as well as
overseas visitors. Its status has recovered strikingly after the terrorist
bombings of 2005. Prices have risen also as growing numbers of executives
flock to the City and shoppers visit for Christmas and the January sales.
Russians are the biggest spenders and will pay an average of £127 a night, but
British visitors are still willing to splash out on a short break at an
average of £100 for a night.
The upmarket image of Bath and its large number of top hotels has helped to
sustain its higher prices. It is particularly popular with Londoners as a
West Country city break with the promise of good shopping and restaurants.
The opening of the Thermae Bath Spa has also been a factor in the
willingness of travellers to pay for a stay in a luxury hotel.
The figures are compiled from data gathered from millions of travellers who
book accommodation via the website hotels.com, which lists 20,000 hotels in
more than a thousand locations worldwide.
The overall average cost of a night in a British hotel is £98.
Patrick Oqvist, marketing director of hotels.com, said: “There is a vibe about
London and its culinary revolution has given the city a trendy and
interesting perspective.”
He pointed out that British people had changed their holiday patterns and,
instead of a traditional summer holiday plus one city break during the year,
they now wanted a portfolio of year-round breaks; this was encouraging
people to explore different parts of Britain.
The best bargains are to be found in the Midlands with a night in Birmingham
costing £74, Coventry £67 and Nottingham £61. Birmingham was also
capitalising as a business centre because of its hotels, the National
Exhibition Centre, and international airport.
The most expensive city in the world for a hotel room is Moscow, with the
average price of £172 per night. Tourists concerned about security prefer to
stay in four or five-star hotels and this is believed to have had some
impact on prices.
Bangkok is the cheapest destination, with a room costing £44 a night; but this
represents a 58 per cent increase. The Thai capital has long been a stop on
the backpackers’ trail but older and wealthier people are now choosing to
visit the city and are booking into four-star and five-star hotels.
The reputation of Tallinn, in Estonia, as the capital for hen and stag
celebration weekends has affected visitor numbers and prices have also
dropped 6 per cent, with a hotel room now costing £51.
With a weakened dollar making transatlantic shopping sprees or midweek breaks
attractive, travellers continue to head for New York, the second most
expensive city in the world with an average hotel room at £155 a night.
Good deals are also to be had in Cape Town, where the price of a hotel room is
down 10 per cent to £77 a night. However, the fall in prices is driven by
fears over security after a spate of tourist muggings. Mr Oqvist said that
Whistler, in Canada, was becoming more popular after concerns over poor snow
in the Alps. He also tipped Mar-rakesh and Istanbul now that Ryanair was
flying to the former and EasyJet to both.
Rising cost of a room
Average cost in UK
Bath £114 * up 6%†
London £107 up 22%
Edinburgh £95 up 4%
Aberdeen £91 up 23%
Bournem’th £76 up 3%
Glasgow £75 up 16%
Birmingham £74 up 9%
Coventry £67 up 10%
Nottingham £61 down 4%
UK average £98 up 17%
Average cost around world
Moscow £172 down 3%
New York £155 up 3%
Dubai £124 down 4%
Cancun £117 up 28%
Bali £63 up 17%
Shanghai £61 down 5%
Warsaw £60 up 4%
Tallinn £51 down 6%
Bangkok £44 up 58
*Average paid; †% change 2005-06
