European hotel prices down

Britons were able to take advantage of low hotel prices in Europe in 2005, a new report reveals.

A survey by hotels.com finds that hotel prices across Europe took a tumble last year, overall falling by 8.7 per cent in the last three months of 2004, with some of the biggest bargains to be found in Glasgow.

The average price for a night's stay between October and December last year in Scotland's biggest city was £64, a drop of 11 per cent from the same period in 2004.

This put Glasgow in second place when it came to Europe's bargain hotels, the winner being Budapest in Hungary, with a price of £60.

A cheap night's sleep was also to be found elsewhere in the UK, with the average price in Manchester falling by four per cent to £76, and in London average prices fell to £81, a drop of 12 per cent.

David Roche, European managing director of hotels.com, said: "European prices took a tumble in 2005, so we will watch with interest whether they recover in 2006, and whether spring city-breakers push prices up as they have in previous years."

Conversely, hotel prices in America actually rose by 2.3 per cent, with fewer bargains to be found.

New York was found to be the most expensive city in the survey, hotel-wise, with the average price of a room in the Big Apple rising 13 per cent to £160.

Mr Roche added: "We will see whether the Americans can sustain the price increases we saw in 2005 - or whether prices have now topped out and falling demand will force them to come down once again.' XXX