US hoteliers are really feeling the pinch as they experience their worst trading conditions since 9/11.

Room rates have plummeted across the country; in New York, prices are down 30% to an average R1465 a night, down from an average of R2135 a night, the Sunday Times reports from London.

It’s the same story in Las Vegas where room prices have dropped by about R250 per night on average.

Apparently hotel owners are falling over themselves with special offers such as Virgin Hip Hotels which is advertising three nights at the four-star Hotel on Rivington for £699 (about R8 500), including return economy airfares. That means getting the room at about R1320 a night after taking off the price of the airfare, about R4575.

That’s like the good old Nineties all over again. But just how long can this go on before the hotel business starts to implode? It’s quite clear from stories like this that we are all still deep in the woods, economically-speaking.

PHOTO: Virgin Hip Hotels

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