Gulf hotel rooms most expensive in the world: report

In what is being seen by analysts as a situation of demand far outstripping supply, hotels in the Gulf accounted for two of the three most expensive room rates in the world in 2010, according to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) published by Hotels.com, a leading industry website.

However, the leading destination isn’t the usual suspect – Dubai – but Muscat, with an average room rate of £185 per night in 2010, which, interestingly, is a 15 per cent drop from the average rate of £217 that hotels in the Omani capital commended in 2009.

At £169 in average room rates per night in 2010 (up 5 per cent on £160 in 2009), Qatar’s Doha is at No. 3 globally, pipped to the post marginally by Monte Carlo, where the average room rates were £170 (up 9 per cent from £156 in 2009), as listed by the Hotels.com HPI.

“The oil-rich Middle East had two cities (Muscat and Doha) in the top three most expensive destinations, reflecting both the small number of hotel rooms and the strength of demand for premium accommodation from both business and leisure travellers,” the report said.

“Despite economic problems, Dubai [at No. 18] was also in the Top 20 at £120 a night on average, finishing the year with just a 1 per cent fall in prices year-on-year. This was largely fuelled by hotels at the top end of the market. Another Emirate, Abu Dhabi, also featured in the most expensive list [at No. 22] despite prices falling a huge 27 per cent to average £116 a night,” it added.

In fact, prices paid by UK travellers fell the furthest in the world in Abu Dhabi, according to the Hotels.com HPI. “This was fuelled by a combination of growth in the number of rooms, as new hotels opened, and a drop in the number of corporate travellers visiting, due to the economic downturn,” the report said.

Overall, rates in the UAE fell an average 4 per cent, from £125 per room per night in 2009 to £119 in 2010, according to the report.

The biggest gainer, on the other hand, was Brazil’s Sao Paulo, which saw a staggering increase of 41 per cent year-on-year, from £84 in 2009 to £118 in 2010, pushing it above Abu Dhabi at No. 21 in the most expensive room rates rankings for 2010.

The report warned that Doha featuring at No. 3 in the most expensive hotels list is not a positive for tourists looking forward to the FIFA World Cup in 2022. “The World Cup effect is something for fans to be aware of – not least for the 2022 competition in Qatar, with Doha already one of the most expensive cities at £169 after a 5 per cent rise,” the report said. “Moscow, a host city for the 2018 tournament, also proved costly at £149,” it added.

According to the latest Hotels.com report, the average price of a hotel room around the world rose 2 per cent in 2010 but was still only at the level it was in 2004 when the website launched the HPI.

The small rise took the average cost of a room to 100 on the Index, the level it was six years ago. Prices remained flat in Europe, rose just 1 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean and fell by 2 per cent in Asia. However, the average was boosted by a 2 per cent rise in North America.

“Many of the major tourist destinations saw some of the highest percentage price rises, as more budget-conscious Britons stayed at home and a return of US travellers after the fall in 2009,” the report said.

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