This Summer’s Hotel Rates Will Keep You Up at Night
Lodging companies are trying to make up for lost pandemic revenue.
In 2019 you could get a room at the Breakers, a five-star resort in Palm Beach, for $350 a night in June—proof that, once upon a time, Florida’s unbearable summer humidity made for outstanding deals. Check a weekend in June 2022, and you’ll find that the prices have quadrupled, with entry-level rooms going for $1,450.
Demand has flooded the country’s leisure-driven markets—not just South Florida, but also Hawaii and Southern California—where Americans can soak up sun without needing a Covid-19 test to return home. Hotel market data provider STR says average daily rates from mid-April to mid-May in greater Miami, where the demand has been strongest, exceeded 2019 levels by 55.1%. Across the US, resort prices were up 33% in the same period. The most luxurious properties seem almost unconstrained by inflation worries, with go-to spots such as the Breakers and Rosewood Miramar Beach in Santa Barbara, Calif., able to charge sky’s-the-limit rates. But it’s not only luxe spots that are cranking up prices: Hotels.com is seeing a 15% increase from 2019 in average rates for hotels across the US.