Introducing the World's Most Expensive Hotel City

After 20 years working in the travel industry, and 15 years writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.

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The most expensive city for hotel stays is now in America, according to Bloomberg’s latest study of hotel rates in the world’s top 100 financial centers.

Average hotel rates surged 88.2 percent from last year, to $397, to push per-night prices in San Francisco above last year’s most expensive hotel city, Geneva.

Other U.S. cities among the top 20 are Chicago and Miami, tied for seventh place with an average rate of $240; Los Angeles, eighth at $237; and New York, 16th at $202.

Bloomberg attributes San Francisco’s soaring hotel rates to “the region’s technology-industry boom, a soaring job market and a dearth of hotel construction as developers focus on office and residential buildings—a combination that’s allowing operators to be aggressive with their pricing.”

Chicago’s rates were also up substantially year-over-year, spiking 64 percent, while New York rates were down by 13 percent.

The top 20, from most to least expensive:

San Francisco – $397
Geneva – $292
Milan – $271
Dubai – $255
Zurich – $251
Tel Aviv – $241
Chicago – $240
Miami – $240
Los Angeles – $237
Hong Kong – $236
London – $227
Doha – $223
Edinburgh – $221
Jerusalem – $210
Rio de Janeiro – $206
New York – $202
Riyadh – $201
Tokyo – $198
Abu Dhabi – $195
Sydney – $193

Bear in mind that the above rates are averages, including hotels throughout the price spectrum, and should be viewed as a challenge rather than a deterrent to the budget traveler. In San Francisco, for example, a quick Hotels.com search turned up plenty of modest hotels and motels available for around $150 a night for late-July stays. And there were many more affordable hotel options to the city’s south and over the Golden Gate bridge in Marin County.

Reader Reality Check

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This article originally appeared on FrequentFlier.com.

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