Geneva most expensive destination

Hotels.com reveals Euro city pushes Monte Carlo off the top spot of pricey stays

Geneva became the world’s most expensive city destination for UK travellers in the second quarter of 2010 with average hotel prices topping £155 per night, according to leading accommodation site Hotels.com. The Hotel Price Index (HPI®) showed that Monte Carlo, the most expensive destination in 2009, had fallen to second place at £152 per night. Perennial favourite New York City, Moscow and World Cup hosting Johannesburg came in third, fourth and fifth place respectively.

At the other end of the scale, Riga remained the world’s least expensive city according to the HPI with average hotel prices dropping by 7% to £52 per night. Stag-do favourite Tallinn looked great value for money in second place, while Bangkok, Warsaw and Budapest formed the remainder of the top five cheapest global travel destinations.

There was no doubt which city is 2010’s star striker when it comes to scoring an increase in the price of hotel rooms. Cape Town, a key World Cup hosting venue in South Africa, experienced a hike of 54% between Q2 2009 and the same time in 2010. Average hotel prices in the new economic powerhouse Shanghai also recovered with a rise of 32%. Long haul destinations of Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro and Las Vegas also saw similar average price increases of 31%, 28% and 27% respectively.

The world’s biggest loser was undoubtedly the Emirate state of Abu Dhabi. The region’s previous high-flyer saw prices plunge by 35% during this period to an average price per room of £113 per night.  Iceland’s Reykjavik saw prices hit by the volcanic ash cloud. As a result of the ensuing travel chaos, prices fell 14% whereby a room would only cost you on average £77 per night. Bargain basement Tallinn saw prices continue to drop (down 12%), as did St. Petersburg (down 11%) and New Delhi (down 10%).