The website Hotels.com has issued a list of hotel price trends over the past year, which is interesting in a sort of obsessive way.
Geneva had the priciest hotel rooms in the world this year, topping £155 per night. Monte Carlo, the most expensive destination in 2009, fell to second place at a measly £152 per night on average. New York City, Moscow and Johannesburg were third, fourth and fifth.
The cheapest cities were mostly in the ex Iron Curtain countries (though spot the odd-one-out). Riga remained in cheapest place, with average hotel prices dropping by 7% to £52 per night. Tallinn was second place, Bangkok, Warsaw and Budapest followed in third, fourth and fifth.
Steepest price rises came from Cape Town, where prices were up 54%. Trendy Shanghai was up 32%. Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro and Las Vegas also saw average price increases of 31%, 28% and 27% respectively. Rio and Shanghai are up and coming cities, and I think the South Africans will drop back next year now that the World Cup has come and gone.
The biggest price decline in hotel room costs in the world was in the Emirate state of Abu Dhabi with a price plunge of 35%. Not surprising, considering what happened there, alas, but rooms there now cost an average of £113 per night. Reykjavik was hit by the volcanic ash cloud, and prices fell 14% to average £77 per night. Tallinn's prices continued to drop (down 12%), as did St. Petersburg (down 11%) and New Delhi (down 10%). I wonder why Tallinn is doing so badly
The picture shows a most extraordinary ceiling in a very attractive hotel called San Roque, in the scenic North of Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Estonia and similar ex Iron Curtain countries don't really have much infrastructure and their economies are in trouble. This might be why prices are low there. Having said this, I find the countries perfectly acceptable as places to visit and would suggest taking advantage of it while it lasts.
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