Prices for 2022 Accommodations

[Laurie Sanantone]

I know it’s early, but does anyone have any insights about increases in prices next year for hotels and pensions? I was checking prices in Burgos, and beginning next year they seem to be going crazy! At Urban Burgos, a room that costs just under €30 this month will go for €135 next February. Art Burgos goes from €53 in November to €135 In February. Maybe they’ve been renovated? Trying to make up for lost revenue? Expecting a crush of reservations? These are direct prices, not on B****.com.

 

[Vacajoe]

Maybe the period you are checking in February corresponds to a local holiday or festival? Are prices similarly inflated for January or March?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

In 2015 in Leon we stumbled on a private room in a cute boutique hotel for €53 and decided to stay an extra night. After inquiring at reception for the cost for another night, the rate had jumped to €100 as it was their national.May Day holiday. Needless to say, we moved over to the the parochial muni albergue.

 

[Marc S.]

I don't think the price is a result of some local holiday.

I played around at booking.com a bit, and prices of some hotels in Burgos dramatically increased from January 1 onwards (not just for February dates, but also for January and March dates). Then I did the similar exercise for hotels in Leon, but did not experience any dramatic increases. So, something odd seems to be happening (but I do not know what ....)

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I was definitely told at the reception desk that the price doubled due to the holiday. It was the Le Petit hotel and had a good location. Our room was large and had a lovely terrace.

 

[Marc S.]

I was definitely told at the reception desk that the price doubled due to the holiday.

I agree that prices are often higher during holidays and festivities, but (maybe my post was bit unclear) I do not think this is the reason for the increased prices the OP encountered for February 2022 (see my post). Moreover, there (as far as I know) there are no public holidays in February, nor in Spain nor in Burgos (as far as I can trust google...)

 

[Kathar1na]

I have no idea why the prices for these two establishment in Burgos (Art Burgos and Urban Burgos) have increased so dramatically. Are they fairly new on the Burgos scene? Maybe their original business model did not work out.

Like @Marc S., I cannot see that this has anything to do with a holiday period or a large congress or anything of the sort. Unlike him, I cannot detect that there is something odd going on with hotel prices in Burgos in general. Inflation in Spain appears to be around 5,5%, and like elsewhere in Europe it is a lot higher than what we are used to, and this has mainly to do with increased energy prices. I would expect prices for accommodation to increase a bit next year but nothing as dramatic as in the first post.

I had a look at the Booking.com map for one night and 2 persons in February 2022. Most of the hotels do not yet have their prices listed in Booking com. What is marked as currently available for February, is often apartments/suites. I picked three hotels near the Cathedral (Cordón, Méson, Marriott) and called up their current prices in Booking.com for November and February. Look for yourself:

(Click to enlarge)

 

[naplesdon]

You peeked my curiosity, so I did some checking on my own. Hotel Norte y Londres which is where I normally stay for a few rest days in Burgos is 45 in December but they are not quoting prices for 2022.
I checked Rice Reyes Catolicos on Booking.com and found December at 47, January at 57 and February at 52.

 

[Marc S.]

Like @Marc S., I cannot see that this has anything to do with a holiday period or a large congress or anything of the sort. Unlike him, I cannot detect that there is something odd going on with hotel prices in Burgos in general.

You are (not for the first time.. ) correct - I changed the wording of my original post. The Urban Burgos and Art Burgos have a high increase in 2022 (and I saw another one where this was the case, but can not find it now) but this is not the case for all Burgos hotels.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I think it's a good idea for people to be aware of all holidays throughout the year by taking a look at the timeframe they are wanting to walk. When I walked the Via Podiensis, I purposely chose June to avoid some of France's holidays during other months. Not just lodging availability and costs, but how busy they can be with the French who enjoy hiking in groups. I received good tips from others on this forum.

Edited- for typos.

 

[Kathar1na]

(and I saw another one where this was the case, but can not find it now)

Story of my life ... .

Marc, I don't know whether you know this. In Booking.com, when you start any booking for a hotel, you can then click on the Check-in date under Availability, and then again on the Check-in date under Change your details, and then you see the rates for the chosen month and the next month. You can also move to a previous month as long as it is not in the past. I find that quite useful.

And I always appreciate your contributions, read them with interest, and don't ignore them.

 

[Vacajoe]

It’s not necessarily a holiday in the country you are staying which affects the rates! We left Spain to avoid a national holiday there, only to arrive in Porto which was besieged with Spanish holiday travelers!!!!!

 

[Laurie Sanantone]

Thanks to all of you for your input. There does not seem to be an overall trend, though I think we all expect prices to increase at least a bit. As noted, some places are not yet taking reservations or posting prices for next year. And yes, be careful of holiday prices. @Kathar1na, that’s a great tip about finding hotel prices, thanks!

I booked Hotel Cordon for €54 for 25 May.

 

[Kanga]

We have friends who run an hotel and accommodation business and they move the rates down closer to the date, depending on demand ie if there is a low occupancy rate, they discount. That may be the reasons prices are so high now. I’d not be booking anything this far ahead unless you know there will be high demand eg a holiday or special event. Or somewhere like Orisson.

 

[wisepilgrim]

Three more things to look out for that might cause a bed crunch on any given day/weekend, apart from National holidays:
1. Regional holidays, to my knowledge there are none in Castilla y León in February (or March for that matter). Neither are there any in neighboring regions whose population may travel.
2. In larger cities like Burgos, there are often trade fairs (congresos) that cause a crunch. There might be one in February, but I don't find any specifics.
3. Lazy hotel owner. My rule of thumb when researching prices, is not to trust any rates that are published 90 (sometimes 60, and in the case of last minute changes for travel companies who reserve large blocks 'just in case' the number can be as low as 14 or 7) days before the day you plan to arrive. Most hotels have software systems which connect automatically with booking/www to publish rates and availabilities, and often times those rates are calculated automatically using a formula... and they are updated daily.

My bet is number 3, and I'll tell you why. In the case of Art Burgos, their prices go up in exactly 60 days from now... on January 1. Not December 30/31, when you would expect more business for the New Year celebrations. The difference between days is large, too large to be explained by a new tax or anything else like that... and the rates shared by @Kathar1na above would also reflect a similar increase.

So here is an experiment: check back in a week and see if the first week of January prices change for the better. They are currently 135€ for January 1. Then check back in a month and do the same. Depending on who is handling the reservations, things can change. I should add that it does not surprise me one bit that some properties are only focused on the immediate future and not next year.

 

[Gerard Griffin]

I feel sympathy for my fellow-pilgrims whose walk is affected by these rising hotel prices.

One price that hasn't increased, I'm happy to note, is a tent or tarp pitched in a secret spot on the outside of town. That's where I'll be from Friday when begin the Camino Portugese ... Not much point in going to parrochials or munis, still less donativos, full as they'll no doubt be with refugees from the boutique hotels. Buen Camino ...

 

[Vacajoe]

Actually, we just walked the CP and found all the albergues quite empty

 

[trecile]

Actually, we just walked the CP and found all the albergues quite empty

Yeah, I can't imagine that there are a ton of pilgrims walking right now.

 

[Kathy F.]

Are there any predictions on the prices for albergues and municipales in the coming months?

 

[Kathar1na]

My bet is number 3

Mine too.

I had another look at the price structure for Art/Urban Burgos who seem to belong to the same outfit. Not a traditional hotel, btw, but a kind of guesthouse without reception where they email you a code to let yourself in.

Similar to the three hotels mentioned earlier in this thread, their price in December is higher than usual on Saturday 4th of December, a whopping €135 instead of their more usual €44 or so. It looks like there is an algorithm at work here that picks this highest rate of December 2021 and populates every single day of the new year 2022 with this uniform price of €135, from 1 January until 3 November 2022 (a year from today).

I would not draw any conclusions whatsoever about potential hotel or albergue price increases in Burgos from this. I am also confident that someone at Art/Urban Burgos will notice this eventually and change it. And if there are any suckers on the internet who book at this price in the meantime ... all the better for Art/Urban Burgos.

 

[good_old_shoes]

Are there any predictions on the prices for albergues and municipales in the coming months?

Of course it's always difficult to predict how things will be in the future. But albergue prices - different to hotel prices - usually don't vary from month to month or day to day. They are more likely to increase from year to year.

There are exceptions, like San Fermines in Pamplona, and I think in Santiago prices can also be different on holidays for example. But otherwise it's not the norm as far as I know. Also, some albergues might charge a few Euros more in winter because of additional cost for heating.

I haven't walked the Francés recently, but looking at the prices Gronze lists, most albergues charge 10-15 Euros now for the bunk bed per night. There are still some at 7-8 and a few at 5 Euros. The Xunta albergues are apparently at 8 Euros currently. I wouldn't expect the price of them to get higher than 10 next year.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I was definitely told at the reception desk that the price doubled due to the holiday. It was the Le Petit hotel and had a good location. Our room was large and had a lovely terrace.

The prices also often increase over the weekend. I've noticed that for years in Pamplona.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I have no idea why the prices for these two establishment in Burgos (Art Burgos and Urban Burgos) have increased so dramatically. Are they fairly new on the Burgos scene? Maybe their original business model did not work out.

Like @Marc S., I cannot see that this has anything to do with a holiday period or a large congress or anything of the sort. Unlike him, I cannot detect that there is something odd going on with hotel prices in Burgos in general. Inflation in Spain appears to be around 5,5%, and like elsewhere in Europe it is a lot higher than what we are used to, and this has mainly to do with increased energy prices. I would expect prices for accommodation to increase a bit next year but nothing as dramatic as in the first post.

I had a look at the Booking.com map for one night and 2 persons in February 2022. Most of the hotels do not yet have their prices listed in Booking com. What is marked as currently available for February, is often apartments/suites. I picked three hotels near the Cathedral (Cordón, Méson, Marriott) and called up their current prices in Booking.com for November and February. Look for yourself:

(Click to enlarge)
View attachment 112380

View attachment 112378
View attachment 112379

View attachment 112382

Oh, how did you get that month map price thing? I've never seen that?

 

[Kathar1na]

Oh, how did you get that month map price thing? I've never seen that?

Below is a description of how it works on a desktop computer. On a mobile phone, it is slightly different, and you can only see the map but with less information. I did not manage to see the monthly overview on my mobile phone.

You start by searching accommodation for a given date in a given town, for example Burgos and Friday 12 November. You click on Search. Then, in the list of available hotels, you choose one hotel and click on Show on map. In the window that opens, you click on show map again. You now see the map with the hotels in the area that are on Booking.com, you see whether they have rooms available on Booking.com or not, and the minimum price of a room for each hotel on the map. This is information for the day that you had chosen. You can close the window with the hotel info to get a better view of the map. You can zoom in and out.

For the monthly overview, you start as before, choose a hotel, click on Check availability, scroll down, and then click on the fields marked in the screenshots below. You see an overview of the minimum price of the chosen hotel for the chosen month and the following month. Left and right arrows allow you to see the monthly overview for other months.

 

[Aqqua2]

Not from any quantitative stats or historic pricing increase, but from own experience this year.

Even in off season I noticed at least a 35% increase minimum on private rooms. I expected this increase in cost, some due to health measure costs, plus there is also an increase in electricity prices for residents and businesses (as stated by the news when I was there). Just be ready to add a bit more to your budget.

Just my two cents.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Below is a description of how it works on a desktop computer. On a mobile phone, it is slightly different, and you can only see the map but with less information. I did not manage to see the monthly overview on my mobile phone.

You start by searching accommodation for a given date in a given town, for example Burgos and Friday 12 November. You click on Search. Then, in the list of available hotels, you choose one hotel and click on Show on map. In the window that opens, you click on show map again. You now see the map with the hotels in the area that are on Booking.com, you see whether they have rooms available on Booking.com or not, and the minimum price of a room for each hotel on the map. This is information for the day that you had chosen. You can close the window with the hotel info to get a better view of the map. You can zoom in and out.

For the monthly overview, you start as before, choose a hotel, click on Check availability, scroll down, and then click on the fields marked in the screenshots below. You see an overview of the minimum price of the chosen hotel for the chosen month and the following month. Left and right arrows allow you to see the monthly overview for other months.

View attachment 112508

So I got THIS far, but I still can't figure out how you're seeing prices for every day in the month?
I mean, I can put dates in one at a time, but you're showing full pages of the month with prices.
I can't figure out how to see that?

 

[Kathy F.]

Of course it's always difficult to predict how things will be in the future. But albergue prices - different to hotel prices - usually don't vary from month to month or day to day. They are more likely to increase from year to year.

There are exceptions, like San Fermines in Pamplona, and I think in Santiago prices can also be different on holidays for example. But otherwise it's not the norm as far as I know. Also, some albergues might charge a few Euros more in winter because of additional cost for heating.

I haven't walked the Francés recently, but looking at the prices Gronze lists, most albergues charge 10-15 Euros now for the bunk bed per night. There are still some at 7-8 and a few at 5 Euros. The Xunta albergues are apparently at 8 Euros currently. I wouldn't expect the price of them to get higher than 10 next year.

Thank you. This information helps me budget for my Camino next year. As I recall, in the past most albergues averaged around 6-7 Euro per night, that was a few years ago.

 

[islandwalker]

@Kathar1na, I love this tip! I never knew you could do this - and it is such a handy thing to be able to see the entire month spread out like that. Thank you so much for posting it!

So I got THIS far, but I still can't figure out how you're seeing prices for every day in the month?
I mean, I can put dates in one at a time, but you're showing full pages of the month with prices.
I can't figure out how to see that?

@Anniesantiago, from the US, on a laptop, I could do it Kathar1na's way with a date, but I also found (by accident) that I could do it without dates this way:

1. Bring up any main hotel page without putting any dates in.
2. Scroll down about 1/3 of the way until you get to the yellow box labeled Availability.
3. Click on the white box (that is positioned within the yellow box) labeled check-in date.

For me, the photo that @Kathar1na showed of the entire 2-month spread with prices shows up at this point.

 

[David with new Kit!]

As well as 2022 being a Holy year, so is 2021 and I didn't notice any big price jumps on my 2021 CF, apart from SDC when I arrived on a holiday weekend in October.

 

[trecile]

@Kathar1na, I love this tip! I never knew you could do this - and it is such a handy thing to be able to see the entire month spread out like that. Thank you so much for posting it!



@Anniesantiago, from the US, on a laptop, I could do it Kathar1na's way with a date, but I also found (by accident) that I could do it without dates this way:

1. Bring up any main hotel page without putting any dates in.
2. Scroll down about 1/3 of the way until you get to the yellow box labeled Availability.
3. Click on the white box (that is positioned within the yellow box) labeled check-in date.

For me, the photo that @Kathar1na showed of the entire 2-month spread with prices shows up at this point.

It also works on my phone on the booking.com website, but not on the app.


You can use the arrow buttons to go to the next or previous month.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

It also works on my phone

That's interesting to note...good call, Trecile. I have the app on my phone which has some of my personal information on it. I would normally have thought the website more generic, so a surprise to find out it actually has extra features. I have not checked it out myself yet, but trust your words.

 

[Anniesantiago]

@Kathar1na, I love this tip! I never knew you could do this - and it is such a handy thing to be able to see the entire month spread out like that. Thank you so much for posting it!



@Anniesantiago, from the US, on a laptop, I could do it Kathar1na's way with a date, but I also found (by accident) that I could do it without dates this way:

1. Bring up any main hotel page without putting any dates in.
2. Scroll down about 1/3 of the way until you get to the yellow box labeled Availability.
3. Click on the white box (that is positioned within the yellow box) labeled check-in date.

For me, the photo that @Kathar1na showed of the entire 2-month spread with prices shows up at this point.

Thanks. Got it.

 

[Annet2020]

I don't know about de Frances and next year, but I know what happened on de Portugues last year: I booked 17 hotels /hostels/pensions for May 2020. When I had to cancel and rebook for May 2021 prices had not changed. Then I had to rebook again for Sept 2021 and most places had raised their prices considerably by then. Overall it was a 23% raise on my total. A few places had not changed their price, most places went up between 12 and 36%. One went up 50% and one went up 82%.