Hotel Prices Return To "Normal"?

Have you actually checked with various hotels to see if the rates have been raised?

Well they sure haven't all jacked up their rates.... I just randomly picked the Wednesday before the wedding and chose the Novotel chain. 8 locations in London with rooms available for 4 nights. Greenwich at £136 a night. Central London about £80 more. Nothing unusual there. Why do you say that hotel prices "have tripled "around" the date of the wedding"? I don't see it.

I would think there aren't really that many people actually invited to the wedding when you consider the number of hotel rooms in London. The invitees from out of easy driving distance will all be looking for rooms at the more upscale places. TV crews will be going to the medium and lower tier places but, again, how many can that be when you consider the number of rooms available. I suspect that few if any will stay at any B&Bs. I suggest you look at booking rooms and see what is available. If pricing drops a week or two later you know it's the wedding at work. Also, it's far too early for them to start posting "deals." Check back later on prices but I don't think you need to worry about hotels. You should consider the possibility that with all of the security on the day of the wedding that London may be a total mess. One thing I suspect is that the period around the wedding is not the time to plan a visit to the Abbey.

Is it really possible that people from all over the world are planning to be in London in April so they can stand in line all night to see the wedding procession? I think it hardly likely.

Thanks everyone...I think I need to stop dealing with the travel agency that was telling me all this repeatedly. Friends of friends thing,I will just do my own calling etc. from here on out. To the poster who thinks it is highly unlikely that people will stand around to see the wedding procession,I politely disagree. Every royal wedding draws huge crowds as do the funerals,etc. etc. Here's hoping that everyone on the route is a "local" who
will be returning to their own flat at the end of the day. Again,thanks everyone!

Mar, of course, there will be many thousands watching on the streets as the wedding procession goes by. My point was that these many thousands will not likely be people who have journeyed from across the world, causing the price of hotel rooms to escalate.

Boy, the last time I listened to a travel agent was 1996, and that was also on a trip to the UK. I learned from that experience to do my own legwork, since my travel agent had not actually been to any of the places she was sending us to. Fortunately, the internet made finding travel deals a lot easier than it used to be. Recently, a travel agent I was forced to work with due to circumstances couldn't find rates better than those I could find for myself, proving (to me) once again that I don't need a travel agent. Not to diss them; they do good work; it's just that when you get used to this process, you learn to do this for yourself. And frequently, you can get good internet/online deals that your travel agent doesn't see, since no matter how dedicated they are, no one cares about you like you do. :-) What I've found is that unless the travel agent has direct personal experience with the place and/or subject, they're going on the same information you are. Plus, they don't seem to get the same deals they used to with airlines... I don't know if that's literally true, or if that's just my perception, but I can save money making my own reservations with an airline that's offering a better deal simply because you went to their website.

Your travel agent is probably seeing articles online about booking increases. I can't imagine that increased demand will not yeild higher prices. http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-14/travel/royal.wedding.tourism_1_royal-wedding-hotel-room-room-prices?_s=PM:TRAVEL http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/Hotel-reservations-triple-for-royal-wedding-date

Travel agents are like milkman -- Yesterday-- PM me and I will tell you the best value in Bloombury

John, perhaps everyone would like that information. Why not share it on the public board instead of in PM?

There were two million people that lined the streets to see Charles and Dianna's wedding. There probably be that many or more that will line the streets for William and Kate's wedding.

While no hotel is going to lower prices for the royal wedding, I think reports of tripling prices are unfounded. Most of the people along the route are going to be Londoners, almost all the rest will be from elsewhere in the UK, and the remainder will be from other countries. If there is a price spike, I'd guess it will be very short, confined to the day just before and immediately after the wedding. If you want to watch hotel prices go up, wait for the Olympics in 2012. So, call hotels and ask for rates on the dates you're after. Someone should correct me if I am wrong, but I believe travel agents have not received commissions from airlines for booking tickets for several years. They have no real incentive to work hard to find the very best rate.

My impression is that when agents stopped getting carrier commissions, they started adding a fee. AAA here tacks on twenty-five bucks - - hence I don't use them.