Survey

London Hotel Rates Soar by as Much as 1000% for New Year’s Eve

Ringing in the New Year in London is likely to put a big dent in the wallets of celebrators who haven’t booked a hotel room yet. According to a recent CheapLondonHotels.co.uk survey, a scarcity of London hotel vacancies is leading the few establishments with available rooms to jack up their rates exorbitantly. There is a bit of good news to be had, however. Last-minute out-of-town planners can still snag an affordable place to stay if they know where to look.

The survey uncovered that approximately 10% of London hotels were still listing vacancies this late in the New Year’s Eve planning stage. But knowing travelers’ options are limited, these establishments have raised their overnight prices by an average of 121%. Eleventh-hour bookers, however, are likely to encounter much steeper price hikes than that.

One place where they’ll run into such price gouging is the Best Western Premier Shaftesbury. Attractively located near Leicester Square, this accommodation is charging GBP 999 for the night of New Year’s Eve. In comparison to the normal overnight rate of GBP 122, that figure represents a hefty 719% rate hike. The Paddington Hotel, however, has the Best Western Premier Shaftesbury beat. A convenient stone’s throw away from the Paddington tube station, the Paddington Hotel takes the prize as the biggest price elevator. To stay there on New Year’s Eve, revelers will pay GBP 899 versus the usual GBP 79, for a jaw-dropping 1000% increase.

Avoiding these wallet busters will require some strategic legwork, but a moderately priced room can still be scored. Indeed, a few 3-star establishments in London city proper are still offering a double room for around GBP 200. Last-minute bargain hunters will want to check out the surrounding areas of Camden or Bayswater, where they should be able to snag a New Year’s Eve room for even less.

The following table shows the 10 hotels with the biggest rate increases for New Year’s Eve in London. For comparison purposes, average rates for the same rooms in January were established and determined as Regular Rates. All rates were established December 27 via the leading hotel-booking sites.