The Hotel Price Index™ - Expedia

7
AVERAGE
ROOM PRICES
BY STAR
RATING
For the HPI, Hotels.com
analysed the average
prices paid in Australian
dollars for hotel rooms
across different star ratings
in the world’s top cities to
help consumers make the
most of their travel budget.
With 5-star rates starting
at a cost-effective AU$118
but rocketing as high as
an extravagant AU$532 on
average, it makes sense to
shop around and research
a range of destinations
before making a decision
on where to go, particularly
for a special occasion.
At the top of the 5-star
range, AU$100 ahead of
any other city, was New
York at AU$532, followed
by Los Angeles on AU$431
and Paris in third place
on AU$429. The two
Australian cities in the
table provided much better
value with considerably
lower rates as Melbourne
averaged AU$257 a night
and Sydney AU$252.
Warsaw offered the
best deal on 5-star
accommodation with an
average price of AU$118
a night, followed by
Budapest on AU$176 and
Brussels on AU$183.
Bangkok had the lowest
4-star average at AU$104
followed by two European
capitals with Budapest
on AU$106 and Warsaw
on AU$110. It was harder
for Australian citites to
compete in this area with
Melbourne at AU$172
and Sydney at AU$190.
However, it was still less
expensive on average to
stay in a 4-star hotel in the
Victorian capital than a
3-star property in several
popular destinations such
as Miami and Venice or
even a 2-star in New York.
For the more budgetminded,
at the other end
of the scale, Bangkok
and Shanghai offered the
lowest 2-star prices at a
very affordable AU$34 and
AU$35 respectively. This
meant that Australians
could have spent seven
days in a 2-star hotel in the
Thai capital for less than
the price of one night in a
5-star hotel in Sydney.
For an inexpensive trip in
the US, Las Vegas had an
unbeatable AU$69 2-star
average.
San Francisco
HOTEL PRICE INDEX: Review of global hotel prices: Jan-Dec 2012
39