New York City resort charges are hitting all-time highs forward of the holidays — with luxurious rooms at unprecedented ranges and supposedly budget-friendly accommodations more and more out of attain for many vacationers, The Post has realized.
The largest hikes are taking place at the poshest properties. At the just lately renovated Four Seasons on East 57th Street, guests on Thanksgiving can expect to pay $2,912 a evening including taxes and charges for a 500-square-foot junior suite, according to the swanky venue’s web site.
But sticker shock has been arguably better at lower-tier venues. Last week, the Holiday Inn Express in Chelsea was promoting same-day reserving for a normal room at a punishing $435 a evening. Its web site was asking $545 to ebook the same room on Thanksgiving, including, ‘Well done! You’re getting a great price,” on a checkout web page.
“We were surprised by just how expensive the nearby hotel options were,” said Lisa Hawkins, a spokesperson for the Washington, DC-based Distilled Spirits Council of the US who had to ebook rooms in Manhattan for a occasion the commerce group hosted last week in SoHo.
Luxury accommodations like the Four Seasons Hotel on E. 57th St. are commanding sky-high room charges and still reserving healthy occupancy charges. Getty Images for Zero Halliburton
The Holiday Inn Express in Chelsea praises prospects on its online checkout web page for getting a “great price.” Google St. View
“Even the more value-oriented hotels were around $550 a night, while some options exceeded $1,000,” Hawkins added. Ultimately, the commerce group opted for a “budget-friendly” property close to its occasion “given that we needed multiple rooms,” she said.
After hitting rock-bottom in the depths of the pandemic, New York City accommodations have come roaring back this 12 months. In September, nightly room charges in the Big Apple hit a document month-to-month average of $468.54 — precisely 96 cents above the earlier all-time month-to-month average set last December, according to CoStar Group, a firm that tracks resort information.
Despite document room charges, hoteliers claim they stay victims of relentless inflation – fueled by regulatory hurdles, utility prices, real estate taxes and the highest labor prices in the nation – that continues to eat into income.
“The hotel industry continues to face headwinds — not least because tourism is still below 2019 numbers,” said Vijay Dandapani, chief govt of the Hotel Association of New York City.
The commerce group estimates that room charges will increase between 3% and 4% next 12 months, roughly on tempo with inflation. But citywide, this September’s average room price is 7% above last 12 months’s.
Vijay Dandapani, chief govt of the Hotel Association of New York City. Getty Images for Hotel Association of New York City (HANYC)
At this clip, “We could break another record in October,” said Didio Pequeno, director of hospitality analytics at CoStar Group. “There doesn’t seem to be a rate ceiling in New York City today.”
A metropolis crackdown on short-term leases from Airbnb and other reserving providers in 2023, identified as Local Law 18, boosted accommodations that were already having fun with a rebound in tourism that began in 2024, industry consultants say.
The metropolis’s tourism bureau – NYC Tourism + Conventions – expects more than 65 million guests to come to the metropolis in 2026 in contrast with more than 66 million in 2019.
Much of the current business is being fueled by a surge in well-heeled home vacationers, hoteliers say. The average nightly room price for luxurious accommodations citywide shot up to $841 in September — a staggering 70% increase over $494 in September 2019.
“If you are in the luxury market, things are fantastic,” Dandapani said. “We are hearing that it’s a relatively new demographic” filling up the most costly rooms.
The resort growth in NYC is being fueled by rich Americans from other components of the nation. Bloomberg via Getty Images
The St. Regis is among the priciest accommodations in New York City. Penske Media via Getty Images
“It’s generally wealthy Americans from other parts of the country who are 50 years-old or younger in their 30s, people who didn’t stay in the top hotels.”
A room at the Mandarin Oriental on Thanksgiving will price $2,867 for a normal king-size mattress with a view of the Hudson River. At the Baccarat Hotel in Midtown, a “classic king” runs $2,238 a evening.
For lower-tier venues, price will increase haven’t been as dramatic on a share foundation. The average nightly price for price range accommodations in the metropolis in September was $203 — up 23% from $164 in September 2019. Still, executives fret that larger room charges — particularly in Manhattan — threaten to shut out an whole section of vacationers.
The Hilton Garden Inn on East 52nd Street had one room accessible at $523 on Thanksgiving as of Oct. 29, with the relaxation of its choices priced at $750 and up — as high as $1,239 a evening for a room with two double beds.
“We are attracting fewer budget conscious travelers,” Dandapani admits. “They don’t have the disposable income and we don’t have budget accommodations.”
Part of the drawback is that many lower-cost accommodations in the metropolis were transformed to migrant shelters during the previous few years. Looking forward, 79% of new resort development will produce luxurious properties, according to CoStar.
Demand for luxurious accommodations like the Baccarat has surged this 12 months. Getty Images for Ines Di Santo
Most builders are focusing on luxurious because a 2021 law has made it more cumbersome and costly to construct new accommodations. The laws imposed stricter labor mandates and an approval course of that can take two years.
Still, for the second consecutive 12 months, New York City is projected to lead the nation in new
resort construction with 24 tasks in the pipeline, including 5,778 rooms through 2028, according to an October report by New York’s comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli.
“The New York City hotel industry ranked highest in the nation for hotel occupancy, room rates, and revenue per available room,” according to the report.
While 2026 had a quantity of main occasions that drew in more guests, including the FIFA World Cup and the 250th anniversary of the United States, hoteliers say they expect the good instances to proceed next 12 months.
“This was a very good year,” said Richard Born, proprietor of BD Hotels, which operates 24 properties in the metropolis, including The Bowery, Maritime, The Jane and Mercer accommodations.
“I don’t see anything that will make 2027 bad.”