Price of hotel rooms in Southampton on the rise (From Daily Echo)

Price of hotel rooms in Southampton on the rise

11:49am Tuesday 5th March 2013 in News

Princes of hotel rooms in Southampton rose despite dropping elsewhere in the country.

Prices in the UK dipped last year despite fears that the Olympics would mean a hike in room rates.

Guests paid an average of 4% less for their rooms in UK hotels in 2012 compared with 2011, a survey by Hotels.com showed.

London rates fell 3% to an average of £126 and prices fell, or were flat, in 32 of the 41 UK destinations surveyed.

Based on actual prices paid by those booking with Hotels.com, the survey showed that St Andrews in Scotland had the priciest UK hotel room rate - at £135 on average.

However this was a 12% fall on St Andrews' 2011 average rate of £154.

There were also big falls last year in average rates in Jersey (down 12% to £98), Perth in Scotland (down 11% to £65) and Scarborough in Yorkshire (down 9% to £57).

But Belfast rates rose 10% to £73, while Aberdeen was up 9% to £93 and Southampton increased 7% to £73.

After St Andrews and London, the location with the highest rates in the UK last year was Windsor at £114, although this was a 4% dip on the 2011 figure.

Windsor was followed by Bath (up 1% to £113), Oxford (up 5% to £111) and Guernsey (down 7% to £103.) The towns with the lowest average rates last year were Coventry (£50), Leicester (£57), Scarborough (£57) and Nottingham (£61).

Hotels.com said: ''Although London's profile was certainly boosted worldwide by the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the huge success of the Olympics, overall prices paid by visitors fell.

The number of visitors during the Games did not meet expectations and hotels lowered their prices in subsequent months to stimulate demand.''

It went on: ''This price still placed the capital at number two in the (prices) table and the city will be one to watch in 2013 to see whether its moment in the global spotlight has an impact on its average hotel prices going forward, particularly as the royal birth keeps the country in the public eye.''

The UK destination figures refer to prices paid by all travellers and not just UK ones. Taking UK travellers alone, the average UK price fell 4% to £84, with London going down 7% to £110, Edinburgh dipping 1% to £95 and Dublin flat at £73.

For Britons, the most expensive rates last year were in Monte Carlo (up 6% to £200), followed by Muscat in Oman (down 12% to £188) and New York (up 3% to £179).

Far East destinations proved the best value for money for Britons last year, with room rates in Phnom Penn in Cambodia averaging just £40, with Pattaya in Thailand £48 and Hanoi in Vietnam £49.

Britons faced huge hikes for hotels in Perth in Australia (up 22% to £142), San Francisco (up 20% to £136) and Kyoto in Japan (up 16% to £105).