Your Hotel Expense Range, Especially in Major Cities

I visit London 5-6 times a year so took the plunge a couple of years back and joined one of the clubs, giving me accomodation in St James's plus restaurants, bars, library and a business centre. Room rates are set for the year and don't vary by season, just by day (weekdays more expensive than weekends). Cost is USD170-200 a night, so excellent value.

I've just got back from Bath, where I stayed at the Indigo - about USD370/nt, and an excellent hotel.

Generally I aim to pay no more than USD400/nt, and preferably more like USD350.

This will vary a lot by where. The hotel you describe can be found in Budapest for $100 to $150 depending on season.

Mr. E, you are our resident Budapest expert, but I would totally agree. I just looked at the rates for what appears to be a very nice Budapest hotel that I was thinking about for a summer trip. Late October-early November, extended stay, can be cancelled (which is a must for me and which I should have mentioned in the original post). The rates were roughly $129-142 depending on whether breakfast was included.

I visit London 5-6 times a year so took the plunge a couple of years back and joined one of the clubs, giving me accomodation in St James's...

Tell us more - what club, how it works, what it costs? What is the breakeven - # of nights per year to make the cost of the club membership "pay" for the lower room rates, for instance.

Pricing hotel rooms for offseason travel, I am finding nice properties in London and Paris--admittedly very expensive cities--in the $220 per night range--and in smaller cities like Bath and Oxford under $200.

Please define off season, and give examples of these prices you are seeing. Those London and Paris rates sound pretty low to me, no matter what time of the year, but without examples, I am not sure what hotels you are looking at...I think in terms of no less than $300 in Paris, and upwards $400 in London, but I need comfort, quality, and location at this point in my life and don't flinch at those prices, but of course I would love to spend less, just depends...

And there are good hotels closer to the $100 marl. It's all about what you want. Anything over $200 in October is going to be truly very nice.

I should have been more specific regarding time of year. Late October-early November. (I have amended the original post to include this information.)

Personally, I don't want to pay more than 100-125€ for a hotel in any city. There are lots of European budget chains, like Ibis, Motel One, Mercur, Intercity and some that are country specific, etc. that offer decent rooms with bath. My hotel room is just for sleeping, so I don't need quaint.

Its always hard guessing what sort of hotel people think is acceptable.

For clean, safe, good location and a private toilet, and only that, then Medosz Hotel Budapest cant be beat and its $210for three nights in October (mid week); $240 with breakfast. A few RS people have stayed in it, speak well about it.

As for the RS small family owned botique hotel theory ..... last hotel I know that he used in Budapest was a 4 star business hotel. But great location. Same dates, for three nights, in that hotel (K+K Opera) are $315 or $345 with breakfast.

I just booked hotels in different cities in Germany and one in Lucerne, Switzerland for a possible December Christmas Market trip. I book rooms that are in hotels with at least an 8.0 rating on Booking.com (and with good reviews on other sources as well), close to public transportation and that have private bathrooms and non-smoking rooms with elevators. Some are apparently family-fun hotels and then I've also got two reservations for Holiday Inn Express hotels. The average per night is about $165 with taxes and fees for two people, and I don't have to pay until arrival.

I am fussy, and my vacation time in Europe is precious to me and I want it to be as lovely an experience as possible--and that means I like to stay in a quality hotel. For an unfamiliar city I research extensively, comparing cost vs location, quality, and amenities. I always get the refundable option. Some cities just cost more and since I travel solo I can economize in other ways.

Last September's trip to London had me over a barrel--my favorite hotel, The Baileys, was over $300 so I ended up at my 2nd favorite, The Caesar, at $220...which is still high, but it ticks all my boxes, so...

Rome--unfamiliar to me--late last April I ended up at the Hotel Lancelot, used by RS groups, and it was $200 per night. I then moved on to my beloved Budapest and stayed for the 3rd time at the Medosz Hotel--large private terrace that provided a beautiful view of all the iconic buildings, huge room and excellent breakfast for around $115.

It really does depend on the city, and the time of year, but I believe quality stays at bargain prices can be found anywhere.

During your dates, I'm seeing dozens of quality hotels all over Paris at $135-$175 a night. I would stay in the 9th, and I would stay at a hotel in the Astotel chain. The rooms are comfortable and generally quiet, the staff is limited but lovely, locations tend to be in neighborhoods where everyday people live with nice everyday People amenities.

The above writ large is more or less my hotel strategy for all big cities. I don't feel any more happy or satisfied by moving up into more expensive accommodations, just a bit out of place. I'd rather spend the extra 200 bucks a night on a great dinner, or a great looking vintage blazer, etc etc.

christa, you nailed it for me. Doesnt have to be fancy, but facny is good, but has to be special. Best hotel I have stayed at in years (since the last time I stayed there) was a little 30 euro a night hotel on the side of a river in rural Bosnia. I could go back in a heart beat.

For Paris and London I have specific hotels I like to stay in. I say that I like hotels in what for me is "Moderate" range. I don't particularly like chain hotels, and as an older solo woman traveler, I'd rather be in a smaller hotel where the folks on the desk recognize me after I've been there a day or two. I want a good location so I can walk to many things and where there are restaurants nearby.

For early and late October I'm staying in 2 different hotels in Paris (one before, one after a tour). They are 230E for the first one and the 2nd one has a different rate each night ranging from a high of 277E for a Wednesday night to 241E for a Sunday night.

I'm going out to Saumur and was debating about how many nights to stay there before the tour guide picks me up. The price of 102E made me decide to cut a night from Paris and stay in Saumur 2 nights.

As I was looking at hotel prices in Paris for this Fall I saw that they were staying inflated to nearly Olympic levels thru all of Sept and generally dropping around the 1st of Oct so I decided my departure date based on that.

In a contrast, I'm headed to Yellowstone next week. I am staying in cabins in 3 different areas inside the park. They all have ensuite bathrooms but no other amenities. My rates for the 3 different locations are: $201/night, $249/night, $241/night plus taxes/fees. These cabins are old. Built in the 30's. No AC. They do have electricity and heat. They are well-located.

So...in comparison, the Paris prices don't seem all that bad!

Christa, I checked Bailey's and the Caesar, and their prices are a bit north of the $220 range but are comparable in pricing to each other.

Hank, I checked some of the Astotel hotels in Paris, and their pricing is very good. Plus, their Tripadvisor grades are excellent. I confess that I place emphasis on Tripadvisor grades--not so much on the individual reviews, but on the difference between the number of excellent grades and very good ones. I do not book hotels that have fewer very good grades than excellent grades. If the excellent grades outnumber the very good ones two-to-one, that is good enough for me. And when the ratio is five- or even ten-to-one, I look forward to the hotel experience.

I personally spend less on dinners in Europe than others, preferring to spend, if necessary, a tad more on a hotel and on tours. In a hotel room, I do not need luxury, but I do need location and a bit of comfort and a small sense of pampering. I have had in the past single rooms in some hotels that were just too small. I do not recall a hotel experience in Europe where looking back I wish I had booked a less expensive room. I do recall times when I wish I had booked a more expensive room.

As I was looking at hotel prices in Paris for this Fall I saw that they were staying inflated to nearly Olympic levels thru all of Sept and generally dropping around the 1st of Oct so I decided my departure date based on that.

September is typically an expensive month for hotels in Paris because of conventions, trade shows, and fashion week, really nothing to do with the Olympics this July/August.

I do not recall a hotel experience in Europe where looking back I wish I had booked a less expensive room. I do recall times when I wish I had booked a more expensive room.

Amen to that.

We all do it, right? A little dollar cost averaging?

I rather enjoy staying in London usually for about a week, and the rooms at the hotel I like for my next visit are $276. So I'll split the previous week between two other cities at $95 & $121 a night. Average nightly cost about $185.

I've always placed a preference on location, either in a town center or near rail station, but now I'm finding myself placing greater importance on comfort.

VAP now that you mention it, I definitely DCA hotel rooms. Quite actively sometimes - when I'm randomly bike touring for instance if I do 3 €70 rooms in a row, l'm far less concerned with €200.

My requirements are identical to yours. As a solo traveler I almost always end up in a double room because single rooms are often very small, beds very narrow, and sometimes with fewer perks - like a mini-fridge. My travel funds grew during Covid and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to travel (my body's wearing out, sigh), so I can afford higher prices that in the past. But I just can't bring myself to pay some of the prices in the past couple of years. So while I probably could afford London and Paris, I haven't even considered them since Covid. I have been fortunate and visited both cities many times.

I got sticker-shock when I priced a 2-week trip to Benelux last year and didn't go. I might just bite the bullet and go to Scotland next summer.

There are still so many reasonably priced places with lots to offer.

I'm getting sticker shock a lot with Hotel prices recently. In July I have to go to York for a one day meeting, probably starting at 8.30am. So I looked at hotel prices for the night before, York used to have lots of modestly priced little guesthouses before the pandemic. But everywhere now in the City is just so high, when all I need is a simple room for the night. Yes I could afford the prices, but I can't justify the cost when York is normally a day trip for me (and would be, bar the early start). I know it is all supply and demand
So, very reluctantly, it looks like I will have to travel overnight arriving at York at 4.15am, very, very un-ideal.

And don't get me started on the Isle of Skye situation. I'm utterly priced out of Skye. I can't possibly book months and months ahead, and all I need is a one night stay there- half a day on Raasay and half a day in Dunvegan. Having to look at doing that as a day trip from Glasgow.

There are certain regions and cities that have experienced greater tourism than pre-pandemic; prices are liable to be higher there. What is unique is that there are certain regions an cities still trying to catch up to pre-pandemic levels; and prices are liable to be lower there.

Maybe a good time to go through the bucket list and change the priorities and move some of the less expensive to the front or high season and the others to low season or the back. Still plenty of good deals out there, but are they in places that interest you? Maybe also time to do a little video watching?

Location, and the time of year, is what you're going to pay for. I've paid $60/night in Portugal (on the beach in OCT) and $300/night in Nuremberg (in APR during a major trade show). Strasbourg at Christmas can easily run $400. I've got two weeks of travel later this month from Bavaria through Switzerland and the Alsace to the Saarland and the price per night ranges from less than $100-$300, and this is in the high season. I've got great rooms in Poland next month for $100/night.

Paris and London have huge swings; in the early spring i can find a nice place for 1/4th what you'd pay today. (Anchorage, AK is the worst place for this that I know of, with 4 official price lists every year.)

Its always 137 Euro, a night for a private room with a private bath, in a good location.

I have stayed in most of the larger cities in Europe, I do not recall ever paying over $200 USD for a double, usually around $150 as a target in a large city, overall, we average just over $100/night. Though in the last few years, that average has steadily rose, not much, but another $5 or so each trip.

I will add, we travel mostly March through early May, then September/October. We also avoid places with major events going on, and favor Portugal/Spain/Italy for the bulk of travel, but those numbers do include the UK and London, The Netherlands, and Germany.

We take long trips (6-8 weeks) during shoulder season (spring or fall). I look at my hotel costs as an average as some cities will be expensive and smaller towns much less so. I aim to average USD $200- per night which generally gives us well-located, 4-star hotels.

As I'm disabled we tend to spend more time in the hotel than might be expected for tourists, and I value a comfortable bed and an on-site restaurant for those days when my tourist-ing ability is depleted by 4pm. If I come in under budget then I book a splurge stay for our last couple of nights to rest and prepare for the 27 hour flight to get back home.

I am in the process of booking hotels/apartments for my upcoming trip (Germany, Austria and France) from mid September to early November and sticking to my notional budget is a challenge. We had intended to start in Paris and found that September prices were around 30% higher than November prices. So I have reversed my trip. The same hotel in September was USD 300- per night for a double room; I have booked a junior suite in November for USD 200- per night.

It is what it is.

I usually budget up to CAD$150 per person per night for accommodations with the aim to come in well under budget. Location is the first priority and then quality/good reviews.

On our last trip to Portugal, for six people, we averaged CAD$72 per person per night. We stayed in luxury three-bedroom apartments.

On our next trip to Japan, for 5 people, our current bookings will average about CAD$80 per person per night. We will stay mostly in three-star business hotels (3 rooms each night).

In Paris and London, hotels are significantly higher than doing apartments (esp. if you have a family of 4). I just returned from Paris a couple of weeks ago and had an amazing apartment with a kitchen for about 200 euros/night. Getting two hotel rooms, even at a basic chain, would have cost double that. I def. recommend booking.com to find some gems as their reviews are only from guests who've actually stayed at the properties. In Bavaria, we found hotels to be much cheaper, in the 100-150 euro/night ranges. In Stuttgart we only paid 80 euros at the Best Western.

Stuart, if the night you need in York happens to be the 11, 14 15, 22, 23 or 25, Number 34 in York has a single (I know it's a tiny room) for 63. Three other rooms are available multiple nights at 100. We stayed in the family room there last fall, and loved our stay. Might be worth keeping an eye on it to see if there is any cancellation on the single, or send a note to Andrew (?). Was in RS England or GB...

A consideration that I hinted at in my original post is age. Generally, as we get older, our criteria for hotels change a bit. The bar creeps upward. I believe RS has said the same thing. I now shun away from very small rooms that I may have booked only a few years ago. For me, the hotel has become more than a clean bed in a central location and become more of the overall travel experience.

That doesn't mean in Paris staying at the Four Seasons Hotel George V or the Ritz (which I would not mind trying if someone else were paying the bill). I have a budget, but it is aspirational and not hard. For the right property, I am willing to spend a little more. For example, in Paris, I thought I had settled on a hotel charging 193 euro per night, but I may now go with one charging 215 per night because I really like its location.

Our first criteria is location with a preference for apartments (as we usually stay several nights). If a hotel is required, we prefer a kitchenette or included breakfast. The cost varies: downtown Gythio is cheaper than Athens Plaka; so we pay what we must to get decent accommodations.

It seems to be consistently about 180 Euros: Rome, London, Paris. Pay cash when we can, and get the discount, as well as showing a Rick Steves book. I think it is a bit of a myth that major cities are overly expensive. They CAN BE, just because bigger cities have higher level accommodations, which throw off the averages. It really depends on how you travel. For us the hotel isn't a destination, its a place to store our stuff, use as a base, and crash for the night. One star hotels with private bath, is as low as we will go. 95 Euro. Two and three stars are what we usually do. It all depends on need, like if you need to park a vehicle, or If you need the staff to help you, with directions and recommendations, and booking day trips, for us a three star, is the way to go. And they about 165 to 180 Euro. Four Stars have things we just don't use: Like a spa and the pool, a view, room service, etc.. Rick does dissuade people from getting the breakfast option, which three stars usually have. I disagree with him on this. Its fun the meet the other travelers that you will be seeing for a few days. And share ideas. The breakfasts aren't that great, but after a prior day of walking around, I just want my coffee/tea and pastry, NOW! :)

@CanamCherie- thanks for that. No it is 17 July when I am in York. But that is a real rarity to find a place that charges effectively no solo supplement. £63 single, £125 double/twin.
I found somewhere this morning by the racecourse where the meeting is, but three sides of a square from where I need to be, as the racecourse Conference Centre is nowhere near where you enter to go racing.
In fact I think the Conference Centre is closer to the railway station and your hotel than to that racecourse hotel!!

Chorley Town Hall last year and Doncaster racecourse the year before were both easy, as they are not tourist towns.