In June, the price of an overnight stay in a standard double room in Europe fell to 97 pounds. This represents a drop of six percent in comparison to last month’s average of 103 pounds, and arrives just in time for the beginning of the summer travel season. In 38 of the 50 cities listed in the tHPI for June, prices fell or remained steady, suggesting that hotel prices are beginning to stabilise after a prolonged trend of rising prices in 2010.

European hotel prices drop six percent
For the first time since January 2010, average hotel prices in Europe’s biggest metropolitan cities have declined. 38 of the 50 cities listed in the tHPI registered stable or falling prices – after five months of back-to-back increases in overnight prices, it would seem that a peak has been reached, and hotel summer prices may be close to finding stability. Many popular summer destinations saw important declines in comparison to last month: Barcelona’s prices fell 24% to 117 pounds; Turin fell 29% (84 pounds, down from 118 pounds in May); and Seville’s prices sank 16% to 77 pounds. The Italian cities of Milan (93 pounds) and Bologna (69 pounds) are currently offering their best room rates to date for the year 2010, as are Brussels (80 pounds) and most of the German cities (Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf).

Stable or dropping prices in the UK
The majority of British cities registered stable or falling hotel prices this month, in line with the decreasing accommodation costs elsewhere in Europe. Average overnight costs in London fell 12% to 129 pounds. The capital had experienced significant price hikes since the beginning of the year, but the change has brought London back to its typical yearly average, which over the past two years has generally ranged between 120 and 130 pounds a night. Prices in other cities also experienced important price drops: Manchester fell 12%, while Liverpool dropped 14% and Birmingham’s hotel prices fell 19%. Other cities were more stable, with price changes ranging from -3% to +3%. Edinburgh increased one percent to 121 pounds, Blackpool rose two percent to 68 pounds, and Sheffield rose three percent to 69 pounds. Conversely, Newcastle and Bristol both fell 3 percent, to 88 pounds and 82 pounds respectively.