According to the monthly Hotel Price Index (HPI) published recently by Internet travel portal Trivago, the average rate for a night across the hotels in Spain at the beginning of 2012 is now €87. That’s just one euro cheaper than at the end of last year.
Within this headline rate some cities in Spain recorded significant price fluctuations. For example, hotels in cities such as Pamplona and Santiago de Compostela have managed to raise their average price by 14 percent compared with last month. A night in a hotel in Las Palmas will now cost you around 7 percent more than in December whilst hotels in the Caceres area are now showing a decrease of some 20 percent compared to last month.
There are also many variations on price depending on which autonomous region in Spain we might be travelling to. The hotels in Galicia and Navarre, for example, have increased their prices by around 9 percent, whilst hotel rates in La Rioja have dropped by 21 percent this month and it is now the cheapest region in Spain with an average nightly rate of just €64. Other regions where it will be cheap to stay during January are Valencia, with an average room rate of €68, Castille-Leon and Aragon both at €70 and Asturias and Galicia at €71.
On the other hand the hotels on the islands in Spain are currently among the most expensive in the country. The average rate in the Canary Islands is now €109, whilst in the Balearic Islands it is €108. Hotels in Palma de Mallorca are the most expensive city hotels in Spain this month at €109, ahead of Madrid (€98), Barcelona (€96), San Sebastian (€94) and Las Palmas at €90.
Price stability among hotel rates would appear to be the general trend in many European countries this January, showing no major variations from the same month last year. Nevertheless, some increases and decreases can be seen in a few capital cities. The average price of a hotel in Prague has increased by some 15% from €86 to €99, while Paris has increased by 6%, Venice by 5% and the hotels in London are up 4% on last year. As far as price decreases go, Krakow tops the list with a drop of 8% to €58 making it the cheapest city in Europe as far as hotel nights go. Other capitals with cheaper hotel prices are Athens, where to stay costs 7% less and the hotels in Dublin have also cut their rates by around 5 percent.