Hotel rooms in Singapore are the most expensive in Asia, according to the latest Hotel Price Index by Hotel.com.
This despite a two per cent fall in average hotel room rates in the region.
The latest index placed Singapore sixth among traditionally expensive countries like Switzerland, Italy, Denmark and France.
Average room prices for hotels in Singapore came in at S$239 last year, a two per cent drop compared to 2010.
Singapore was also ranked the second most expensive city for five-star hotels in the world.
London hosted the most expensive five-star rooms at S$537, just S$43 ahead of Singapore which came in at S$494.
Johan Svanstrom, managing director (Asia Pacific) of Hotels.com, said: “The hotel industry in Singapore has developed tremendously in recent years. For one, the hotel room inventory has really grown with numerous openings of prestigious hotels targeted at affluent, business travellers.
“On top of being a business hub and a stopover for long-haul travellers, the country has also invested in upscale attractions such as the integrated resorts that have proved to be a great hit with tourists – these make Singapore the perfect vacation option for luxury travel.”
Hotel room rates in some of Singaporeans’ favourite destinations saw significant price falls.
This, coupled with the relative strength of the Sing dollar, meant it is cheaper for Singaporeans to stay in hotels in many Asian destinations.
For instance, Japan’s hotel room rates fell seven per cent after the earthquake in March 2011, while Thailand’s room rates dipped due the recent floods.
On the back-end of a sluggish economy, Vietnam joined six Asian nations boasting the lowest prices in the report, alongside Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia.
For Chinese cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai, room prices saw further reductions due to greater competition from new developments and on-going currency fluctuations.
The hotel price index tracks the real prices paid per hotel room for about 149,000 properties in more than 19,800 locations in over 85 countries.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 13 Mar 2012