Edinburgh hotels now more expensive than London

EDINBURGH has overtaken London to become Britain’s most expensive city to stay in, according to new hotel industry statistics
Edinburghs typical room rate is now £175 a night, according to Trivago. Picture: Toby WilliamsEdinburghs typical room rate is now £175 a night, according to Trivago. Picture: Toby Williams
Edinburghs typical room rate is now £175 a night, according to Trivago. Picture: Toby Williams

Even though London is still the most popular tourist destination, Edinburgh’s average room price is now £5 a night more than England’s capital this summer.

This time last year the average price of a hotel room in the Scottish city was £166 a night, less than the average £168 a night for accommodation in London.

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But this year the places have been reversed with Edinburgh’s typical room rate now £175 and London’s up modestly to £170, said hotel comparison site Trivago.

Both charge significantly more in room rates than other UK tourist hotspots, said the Trivago summer survey.

York, the third most popular destination, charges an average £102 a night, Blackpool in fourth just £57 a night and Liverpool in fifth, £88 a night.

All three are charging less this summer than last as the growth of budget hotels in the cities helps to force the overall average price down.

The biggest fall is Glasgow where the average summer room rate last year soared to £127 as it hosted the Commonwealth Games but this summer is back down to £93 a night.

Yet Glasgow remains one of the UK’s top ten destinations along with Manchester, Brighton and Bournemouth and, this year, Cardiff who enter the top ten at the expense of Birmingham.

The top ten foreign cities for Brits staying a minimum of six nights are Dubai followed by Benidorm, Barcelona and Albufeira then New York, Orlando and Rome.

Dubai, despite its reputation for luxury, is cheaper than Benidorm for hotel accommodation, charging an average £118 a night compared to Benidorm’s £184 a night.

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Denise Bartlett of Trivago said: “The year-on-year price differences are also intriguing.

“While many holidaymakers may expect to find a bargain in the Eurozone this year, this is not the case in popular summer resorts Benidorm and Salou, where prices are up by 33% and 36% respectively.”

Trivago’s figures cover bookings made for stays between July 1st and August 31st this year - the site gets 80 millions visits a month.