UK hotels report drop in average room rates

Hotels in major cities across the UK have seen a drop in average room rates in the first quarter of the year.

Liverpool suffered the steepest drop of 14.3% followed by Bristol (down 11.7%) and Leeds (down 10.7%) with only Reading seeing the same rates as last year, remaining at an average of £103.

London showed a small decline from the same period last year but an improvement from the last quarter of 2016, latest data from HRS – Global Hotel Solutions reveals.

HRS UK and Ireland managing director, Andy Besent, said: “There continues to be uncertainty in the UK surrounding Brexit and now with Teresa May calling for an early general election we will have to wait to see the impact.

“We have seen outbound travel from the UK more expensive due to the weak pound but the fall in average rates should at least make the UK a more attractive and cost effective destination for travellers.”

Zurich remained the most expensive city in Europe at £149 per night, followed by London at £145, while Prague was cheapest where the average cost for a night was £57.

Istanbul saw average prices fall by 6.3% to £63 while Moscow saw an increase of 26.5% to £89 a night.

Besent said: “There are increased security concerns around Europe however early reports show that following the recent terrorist attack in Westminster, hotel occupancy rates in London remained in line with March patterns, Paris saw a 1.6% incline and Berlin saw a 2.3% increase showing resilience.

“It is a turbulent time with factors such as the slowdown of the Chinese economy, Brexit, Donald Trump’s election and terrorism.

“The travel policies of Donald Trump are likely to continue to have an impact on travel and it will be interesting to see what the impact will be on the US market; interestingly Washington saw the highest average rate in all top world destinations in Q1.”