Huge price increases

At first this makes sense, but it would really only make sense for summer travel. By fall, things have quieted down and rates should be stable.

On the other hand, I guess I told Google Flights to track a flight to Europe for me and it recently reported that the fare in premium econ had doubled.

Just remember, it's all about demand. What goes up, can also go down if there are no takers.

It is all pent up demand; Florence is a big tourist town; all the post pandemic things that draw crowds like conventions , etc that were stopped two years ago are back on every where.

I have just returned from a 7 week trip to France and even in mid May, places were far busier than usual, as many people haven’t been abroad for 3 years until now, hence there is pent up demand pushing up prices.

Accommodation owners anticipate a bumper year.

I have noticed similar trends with my reservations. The biggest change is for 3 nights in Venice that I reserved over a year ago for the end of August. My reservation is for 265 euros for three nights. New reservations for the same dates would be 265 euros a night or 795 euros. Quite the difference!

My sister and I splurged with a reservation at the Paradores in Granada for December. Those prices have increased by 50% in two and 1/2 months.

It’s not just Europe, it’s here too. Hotels in Carmel, Ca that have charged $180-200/night for many years are now charging $300/night.

We returned from London 3 weeks ago, and we stayed in the same Bayswater/Kensington neighborhood we've always stayed in.
London's hotel rates for a modern hotel in a decent neighborhood are in the $250-350 per night range. There are some old townhouses that have been linked together in the area, but they're just a little cheaper.

That's far more than I'm willing to spend again.

I can see where my future trips will be to much less expensive places like Spain and Hungary. There are many countries where living expenses are less.

Accommodation prices in the U.K. rocketed with people taking staycations pushing up demand. I was reading yesterday that accommodation owners are now facing a raft of cancellations as people are heading abroad and cancelling their staycations, which will force prices to drop. People booked places with accommodation owners offering free cancellations up until the last moment and they are now faced with lots of empty rooms.

U.K. Inflation is predicted to hit 11% in a couple of months plus staff shortages due to Brexit and Covid means many hospitality posts remain unfilled. Heating energy costs are likely to triple by the winter due to the Ukraine war. These costs will be pushed onto the consumer.

Spanish inflation is currently 10.2%, it’s 10.7% in Hungary and 22% in Estonia!

I’m planning a trip in mid/late September and was surprised with accommodation pricing in Brussels and taken aback by the prices in Cologne. (Amsterdam I expected to have high demand.)

I can’t find any events driving demand in Cologne, but a number of places were sold out already.

I'm looking to next spring, and considering the Euro is weaker to the $$, I'm happy with the way things are going now!

I didn't find significant increases from our planned trip to Rome and Umbria from 2021 to 2023. I booked some of the same hotels that I had booked earlier and in one case booked a hotel in Rome better than the one I booked earlier.

I was looking at booking a room in the hotel in Rome where our Rick Steves tour spends the first night. Wanted to book the night before. When I started looking six months ago, the price was reasonable. Just checking recently and the prices for the nights before all of the RS tours start has tripled. Talking about supply and demand!

My trip was ultimately cancelled but in planning I found I got a better rate when I contacted the hotel directly that we were going to stay at with RS tour than what was posted online.

It really is all supply and demand. Ironically, the best deal is generally had by people who wait until the very last minute to book - and book directly through the hotel.

The hotel knows if they'll be sitting on an empty room. If so, any price is better than no price.

The risk (and it's a real risk) is the hotel you want will be full and you won't get any room. If you're not married to a particular hotel, however, last minute booking can save a lot of euros.

I've traveled through Spain, Italy, Austria, France, and Germany - alone, as a couple, as a family - without reservations and done well. Most of the time I ended up in my first choice of lodging, only rarely did I call more than three places (hotels, hostels, hostals, pensions, etc.) before finding a room.