lodging in the cotswolds

It’s because the Brits are being told everything in the UK should be open by July but foreign holidays are highly unpredictable. They obviously figure we will simply pay up after a year of Covid weariness. On the other hand I was looking at a London hotels and there seem to be plenty of good deals and availability.

Go elsewhere! There are plenty of beautiful places in the U.K. where you won’t get as ripped off.

Prices are all about supply and demand. We have been cooped up in our third full lockdown since the new year and people want to get away. Travel to Europe looks uncertain, despite what many on this forum seem to think, so Brits are booking staycations. Hence prices are increasing, particularly during school holidays.

In addition, the government advice is that there should ideally be 72 hours between cottage guests departing and the next arriving. So the owners lose half a week of bookings per stay and need to deep clean, so this is going to mean price increases. Ditto hotels. Plus, owners are trying to recoup some of the money they have lost by being closed for half of the last year. In addition, supermarket costs are rising, partly due to Covid but also as haulage costs from the continent have increased following Brexit.

Prices may settle next year once we Brits can escape and find some sunshine!

If you're looking via booking sites then my advice would be to avoid them. There have been a number of complaints recently from guesthouse owners that a number of booking sites have vastly inflated their prices yet the property owners have kept them the same as the previous year. They have no control of this price gouging and the advice from many owners is to book direct with them to avoid the inflated prices being offered by the big sites. If you find a place on a booking site that you like the look of then have a search to see if the property has it's own, independent website and compare the prices.

I had a brief look at cottages,com yesterday to see what availability was like for June half term and the prices for similar properties that we've stayed in at the same time of year in previous years have doubled or tripled. Some owners may have raised the prices to recoup their losses but I have faith that the majority have no desire to rip people off and therefore the rises are being imposed by the major sites.

However, this year will see a drastic increase in Brits looking at staying in the UK. The announcement by Boris Johnson of his roadmap out of lockdown resulted in a huge surge in online bookings for UK breaks so that will have a big impact on availability. The biggest interest from Brits is Cornwall and the Southwest so it may be worth considering less popular areas of the UK of which there are many.

Hello from Wisconsin,
We managed to tour and enjoy the beautiful countryside of the Cotswolds from Cirencester. Of course we had a car. The 'cute' popular villages were jam packed with tourists. I am quite spoiled, so when I see a line of cars waiting to drive through a village, I go somewhere else. I mean, what is the charm of a parking lot?

Cirencester seemed almost devoid of tourists. How do I know? It had grocers, butchers, clothing stores, cell phone shops. Stores that locals use. Don't get me wrong, tourists were there but in numbers small enough that it hadn't squeezed the life out of the community.

From Cirencester you can easily drive up a Roman road and drop into the non-tourist villages and cruise the countryside. We were in early spring and the countryside was alive with pheasants and bluebells. Also, Stone Henge, Avebury, and Salisbury are doable for a day trip from Cirencester.
wayne iNWI

We liked the Volunteer Inn, in Chipping Campden. It has the best pub in town and a great Indian restaurant. Also, the lodging fare is very reasonable.

Last time we were in that area, in May 2019, we stayed at the Arden Hotel in Stratford Upon Avon. We like it. Breakfast was included with the price and it has free parking. I just checked prices for the same dates this year (if we could travel) and the price was slightly less expensive. You may want to shop around.