Why are hotels so expensive in Barcelona?

Supply. Demand. There have been so many tourists in Barcelona that some locals have been squirting them with water guns. You are going at the start of high season. Reserve early because prices are likely to rise. We found Portugal to be a bit cheaper than Spain but preferred the latter. Good luck.

No idea what price constitutes expensive to you.

Late May is the beginning of the main tourist season so hotels, and airfare, get more expensive.

Hotel prices in smaller towns away from the main destinations are generally less.

On my recently completed trip to mostly Extremadura, the hotels ranged from between 133€-175€ per night and that included a full buffet breakfast. I’m sure it would have cost more had we travelled in June.

Barcelona is, and has been for years, one of the most popular cities in Europe for travelers to visit.
And as mentioned above, when demand for accommodations is greater than the supply, prices rise.
Spain is a bargain overall- just not in its 5 most popular cities travelers want to visit.

I had to change my planned March 2024 dates for Barcelona after I discovered that there was a major tech conference scheduled for my preferred dates. The hotel I had hoped to book and many others in my price category were booked many months out. Another variation of supply and demand.

Expense is, of course, subjective.

Yeah prices are up.

I stayed in a hotel in Barcelona January 2020 and paid $112. The price in October 2024 was $379.

I stayed in a hotel in Seville in January 2020 for $55, and October 2021 at the same hotel for $75, and then October 2024 $250.

I stayed in a hotel in Sorrento Oct 2021 for $80, then Oct 2022 for $100, and in October 2024, it was $250.

Recently in all these places, I had never seen so many tourists in either one - just nuts.

I was pretty surprised by the prices in Portugul too.

Hotels aren’t always cheaper if you book this far in advance. It’s often cheaper to wait until closer to the time. The reason for this is that hotels simply don’t know what might happen in a city this far in advance. There could be sporting or music events announced that allow them to charge more. They don’t want to risk selling the room too cheap.

Barcelona has a resident population of 1.7 million (4.4 in the metro area) and receives around 16 million visitors every year.

The city is (and has been for a while) a trendy destination, not only for 'regular' tourism but also for trade and business fairs, congresses and exhibitions, major sports and music events, medical and scientific tourism, and weekend breaks -always flooded by our European neighbours ;). So, as explained, supply-demand drives prices.

Furthermore, it's NOT a seasonal destination we have visitors all year round. This translates into the fact, that prices can wildly vary from one week to the next, depending on the events happening in the city that particular week.

Thus, if your dates are flexible, always check the prices for the weeks before and after your initial thought. Also, when planning in advance, it's good to check what (major) events are going to be happening on a particular week. Two good sources are the agenda at the City Hall website (www.barcelona.cat) and the fair commission website (www.firabarcelona.com).

The reasons why hotels are so expensive in Barcelona is neither here nor there. If you want to stay in Barcelona the price is what you must pay. If you understand the reason for the price it does not affect that price. Next to airfare, hotel costs are your most significant expense during any trip you may take.

As said by others, it is supply and demand but you may want to see if you are traveling during a particularly busy period for conferences or events and if you have the flexibility, change your schedule accordingly. I am in Tallahassee (FL) this morning — last time I was here, my hotel room cost about $150 per night but last night the rate was $423. Why? Because it is homecoming weekend for one of the large universities here. Next weekend, the prices will be back to normal and remain so until the homecoming weekend for the other large university in town.

What counts as expensive? We were in Spain - although not Barcelona - April/May 2024 and paid 200 euro/night in Madrid (Petit Palace Puerta del Sol). That was for 2 people; you'll pay more for a third person, I would guess. We went to Bilbao, San Sebastian, Segovia and Toledo, most of the hotels were 100-125 euro/night.

You will often have to pay a lot more for a room that sleeps 3. In general I find that only a hotel’s larger rooms will accommodate 3 beds which sometimes means a suite or similar. Obviously this comes with the associated price tag.

I am not sure what you consider expensive, but I find most Mediterranean countries to be much more reasonably priced than other places in Europe, and of course, many places here in the USA. For me, Portugal and Spain have always been extremely affordable.

I was in both Madrid and Rome in August--the four star hotels I stayed in averaged about $250.00 US dollars per room per night; five star hotels in Spain were still under $400.00, while in Rome five star prices could skyrocket from $500.00 to $1000.00. You can definitely always find cheaper hotels if you reduce the star category, and the hotels are still comfortable and well located. Barcelona is similar.

We are traveling to Zermatt (Switzerland) next month, and the hotel prices are absolutely outrageous, but it is a bucket list trip for husband. I found a three star for about $425.00 per night!!! I booked the hotel ten months in advance--the entire town is almost sold out now! It never hurts to confirm a place months ahead if you are happy with the price and the hotel reviews. I book some cruises two years in advance!

I just took a look at Hotels.com for the end of May/early June and I found at least a dozen Barcelona hotels with excellent reviews all costing less than $250.00 per night. A few even have roof top pools! I wish I could find a New York City hotel for that kind of price.

My advice is book a lower cost city hotel because you are out and about exploring most of the time, and then splurge if you stay at a bigger resort hotel somewhere near a beach. You can also try to stay a little outside of the big cities, and then prices will go down a bit as well, but it may involve more of a commute.

Extensive research is always key to getting good prices, and organizing everything to meet your budget parameters. Best wishes!