You’ve finally saved up enough for the dream vacation to Paris that you planned when you were 16, but then you remember it’s now 2023 ... with inflation at an all-time high, you can’t get your passport on time and hotels are not the prices they once were.
Travel guide company Frommer’s said a big reason traveling and staying in hotels is so pricey is because of the repercussions companies are still facing from COVID-19.
Data company STR found that in May, “U.S. hotels were up 17% from pre-pandemic 2019,” whereas European hotels were even higher, “33% in London, 38% in Paris, and 22% in Amsterdam,” per Frommer’s.
Not only are prices higher, but amenities are not what they were pre-pandemic.
According to The Associated Press, daily housekeeping has become less of a mandatory accommodation for many big hotel companies:
“Marriott’s policies vary by property, but housekeeping is usually offered only upon request, with all rooms cleaned automatically every sixth night. Hilton’s default is no more daily cleanings at most properties unless requested. Walt Disney World reduced service to light housekeeping every other day. That entails towel replacement and trash removal but doesn’t necessarily include services you might expect, like getting your bed made.”
So you’re paying for more and experiencing less.
There are some hacks, however, for getting the best bang for your buck.
Planning is everything.
When it comes to hotel booking, there's a lot of talk about when the best time to book is.
Research done by NerdWallet found that booking a hotel 15 days out compared to four months in advance saves you money.
“Rooms average 13% less when booked last minute than booked four months in advance,” per NerdWallet.
It might not be enough of a discount for those who need time to prepare for their travels, but for the spontaneous vagabonds of the world, it’s worth it.
According to Hopper Media, “Hotels in large cities have to compete with many other, similar hotels to capture your reservation.” Waiting till the last minute to book a room could mean dropping the price down more than $150 or 30% of what it would be if booked in advance.
Where to travel
When gathering research on where Americans would be booking hotels most in 2023, Kayak discovered that more people would need lodging accommodations abroad rather than staying in the U.S. and that the west side of the U.S. had the lowest nightly hotel rates.
However, there’s still a catch: “Domestic nightly rates have increased slightly — making them around the same price point as international nightly rates, which have decreased slightly,” Kayak said.
The most popular places are also going to have expensive stays due to high booking demands.
Using Google’s most searched travel locations, Travel+Leisure found that the top destinations Americans were jetting off to were London, Cancun and Paris for international and Orlando and New York City for domestic travel.
Travel destinations in the U.S. with the lowest hotel rates that still give great vacation experiences, according to Kayak, were Ocean Shores, Washington; Portland, Oregon, and Cody, Wyoming. And for international stays, the lowest rates were in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Bangkok, Thailand, and Berlin, Germany.