Hotel rooms can be one of the most expensive parts of a holiday or business trip. If you’re looking to choose a destination that’s less costly right now, swing towards Asia — and forget New Zealand.
Hotels picture from Shutterstock
The latest Hotels.com price index shows the average price paid (in Australian dollars) for rooms booked in 2014, compared to 2013. Given that services likes Hotels.com favour larger chains, the average prices are a little on the high side — hunting around might find you a better deal. That said, remember average city prices will include cheaper hotels in non-CBD locations. Regardless, the pricing trends are useful information even if you look further afield.
According to Hotels.com’s analysis, prices for rooms in Asia have remained flat for some time, with many destinations charging the same as they did 10 years ago. That makes them cheaper when you factor in inflation. In Australia, the scenario is more mixed; Adelaide and Hobart went up compared to 2013, Sydney and Melbourne were flat but still costly, and Darwin and Perth fell. New Zealand has become much more expensive thanks to the improving NZ dollar, with average prices up 15 per cent year on year.
Here are the figures for Australian capital cities (all figures in Australian dollars):
| Destination | Average price | % change since 2013 |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney | $200 | 1% |
| Melbourne | $177 | 1% |
| Brisbane | $172 | 2% |
| Perth | $184 | -3% |
| Adelaide | $153 | 6% |
| Canberra | $185 | 4% |
| Hobart | $176 | 6% |
| Darwin | $200 | -4% |
And here’s a selection of the pricing data from the report for fast-rising overseas destinations:
| Destination | Average price | % change since 2013 |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $317 | 7% |
| Rio de Janeiro | $299 | 14% |
| Cancun | $282 | 19% |
| Honolulu | $281 | 10% |
| Boston | $272 | 10% |
| Morocco | $169 | 41% |
| Mauritius | $277 | 25% |
| Greece | $196 | 18% |
| Qatar | $197 | 17% |
| New Zealand | $162 | 15% |
Lifehacker Australia editor Angus Kidman tries not to pay $200 a night anywhere. His Road Worrier column, looking at technology and organising tips for travellers, appears each week on Lifehacker.
Comments
3 responses to “For Australians, Hotel Rooms Are Cheapest In Asia”
Not only that, but I found in Vietnam they’re so desperate for good ratings on TripAdvisor and Agoda, that customers service and quality of stay in a 2-3* hotel beat any 4* I’ve stayed at here in Australia.
Errr, I’m either missing something, or you reference asia being the cheapest and provide absolutely zero proof of that, or a source link.. what the hell?
And the implication was NZ was the worst, but not on this list.