DC hotel prices soar 927 percent above average for inauguration
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WISH) – Booking a room during the inauguration weekend in Washington, D.C. wasn’t cheap. 24-Hour News 8’s Kylie Conway looked into how much guests paid.
According to online booking site Trivago, rooms are 927 percent more expensive than normal average pricing.
Jon Eichelberger, Trivago Regional head of the Americas said D.C. hotels are typically on the expensive side anyway, so this increase is huge.
“Obviously every big event that draws a big crowd and has major publicity behind it, there is a spike in hotel rates,” Eichelberger said. “If you look at the Super Bowl form last year for instance, there’s about a 200 percent increase, so not to the scale that the inauguration is.”
Eichelberger said they have seen suites at nice hotels go for nearly $5,000 a night.
“So it’s interesting to see how people have actively bought into the political process and are still looking for hotels, it’s interesting to us that we can see that correlation between interest in what’s happening in current events and people looking for hotels,” he said.
In addition, the JW Marriott D.C. is offering the “Presidential Ovation” package. For $2.5 million, guests get a four to five night stay for 300 people. Marriott said the package includes access to the presidential suits, 325 guest rooms, bourbon tasting, a special inauguration menu, and a private viewing party from the hotel’s 12th floor which overlooks the parade route and Washington Monument.
Another interesting statistic Eichelberger said is that typically D.C. is about the 8th most popular searched U.S. city for people looking to travel. He said right now, it’s coming in at number two.
Trivago said out of about 300 properties in the D.C. Metro area, about 40 still have availability.
Airbnb Inc. still has properties available as well. People on average are renting their homes for at least four times what they would on a non-inauguration weekend.