The average cost for a one-night stay in a US hotel is $125. That cost does not include seasonal fluctuations in price, discounts, lodging, and local taxes.
As we shall see, $125 is just a drop in the bucket compared to some of the more expensive and exclusive hotels in places like New York City and US airport locations.
For example, the new Westin Hotel at DIA in Colorado charges over $400 for a single night’s stay.
This article includes a sampling of the major airport hub cities of the US with average hotel costs. You’ll notice notes for some of these prices, which you will find near the bottom of the article.
The average hotel costs for each city are as reported by statista.com. Each city listing also includes an example of nearby airport hotel accommodations for travelers who prefer to stay overnight before connecting to their flights.
Table of Contents
A Sample of US Hotel Costs: from Boston to Honolulu
Boston, MA
Average hotel room cost per night: $132 (Notes 1 and 2)
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Hilton Boston Logan International Airport, $373.
State lodging tax rate: 5.7% (Note 3)
Interesting fact: Boston currently has 73 hotels and 19,012 rooms.
New York, NY
Average hotel room cost per night: $235
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Crowne Plaza, JFK Airport, $236
Tax rate: 4.0%
Interesting facts:
New York City has the most luxury hotels in the US. Seventy-seven hotels are rated either 4- or 5-diamond by AAA as of 2020.
According to the Luxury Travel Expert, New York City is home to two of the most expensive hotels in the world:
The Ty Warner Penthouse atop the Four Seasons Hotel New York—$50,000 per night.
The Mark Penthouse Suite, The Mark Hotel, New York at $75,000 per night—the largest hotel penthouse suite in the US overlooking Central Park.
Philadelphia, PA
Average hotel room cost per night: $202
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Philadelphia Airport Marriott, $375
Tax rate: 6.0%
Interesting fact: According to the Discover Philadelphia webpage, Philadelphia has more than 14,400 hotel rooms, all within walking distance of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Washington, DC
Average hotel room cost per night: $458
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night:
Washington Dulles Airport Marriott, $232
Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, $187
Tax rate: 14.9%
Interesting facts:
Washington, DC has about 132 hotels with almost 32,000 hotel rooms. The largest hotel in Washington, DC is the Marriott Marquis, with a vast footprint of over 30,000 square feet.
One of the oldest and most historic hotels in the US is the Willard Hotel, dating back to 1816.
Atlanta, GA
Average hotel room cost per night: $169
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Atlanta Airport Marriott, $386
State lodging tax rate: 4.0% (Plus a $5 fee per room)
Interesting fact: Atlanta’s Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, which opened in 1976, was once the tallest hotel in the world at 73 stories. It’s now the fourth largest, but the tallest hotel in the Southeastern US.
Orlando, FL
Average hotel room cost per night: $246
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Hyatt Regency, $165
State lodging tax rate: 6.0%
Interesting fact: Orlando is home to Disney World, with hotel and vacation plans starting at about $287 per person per night.
Miami, FL
Average hotel room cost per night: $304
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Miami International Airport Hotel, $189
State lodging tax rate: 6.0%
Interesting fact: Miami is the home of the famous Fontainebleau Hotel, which dates back to the early 1950s. The hotel hosted top show business stars like Elvis Presley, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, and Judy Garland.
Chicago, IL
Average hotel room cost per night: $263
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Hilton Chicago O’Hare Airport, $224
State lodging tax rate: 6.0%
Interesting fact: Chicago’s Congress Plaza Hotel is a Michigan Avenue relic dating back over 122 years. Its most notorious guest was gangster Al Capone.
St. Louis, MO
RozenskiP / Shutterstock
Average hotel room cost per night: $264
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Marriott St. Louis Airport, from $148
State lodging tax rate: 4.225%
Interesting Fact: The historic St. Louis Union Station Hotel on Market Street is a national landmark where the Curio Collection by Hilton dates back to the mid-19th century.
Denver, CO
Average hotel room cost per night: $189
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Westin Denver International Airport, from $475
State lodging tax rate: 2.9%
Interesting fact: The Westin Hotel at DIA has a unique “bird-in-flight” shape. Its curved roof copies the shape of tent shapes at the top of the Jeppesen Terminal. The hotel is located within convenient walking distance to the terminal.
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Average hotel room cost per night: $134
Grand Hyatt Dallas-Fort Worth airport, $291
State lodging tax rate: 6.0%
Interesting fact: In 1956, the Dallas Statler Hilton hotel became the first hotel to pipe in elevator music and include a television set in every room.
Las Vegas, NV
littlenySTOCK / Shutterstock
Average hotel room cost per night: $137
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Tru by Hilton Las Vegas Airport, $110
State lodging tax rate: 2%
Interesting fact:
Not surprisingly, Las Vegas has the most hotel rooms of any city in the US, with an inventory of 150,000 accommodations.
Nine of the ten biggest hotels in the United States are in Las Vegas. The top 3 are:
The Venetian: 7,092 rooms
The MGM Grand: 6,852 rooms
CityCenter: 6,790 rooms.
The Las Vegas Palms Casino Resort hosts the most expensive hotel room in the world. It’s the Empathy Suite Sky Villa at $100,000 per night!
Seattle, WA
Average hotel room cost per night: $189
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Crowne Plaza Seattle Airport, $325
State lodging tax rate: 6.5%
Interesting fact: Seattle’s Panama Hotel was built in 1910 and is a monument to Japanese American culture.
Portland, OR
Average hotel room cost per night: $152
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Sheraton Portland Airport, $256
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: The Westin San Francisco Airport, $251
State lodging tax rate: None
Interesting fact: San Francisco hotel room prices have jumped 88 percent in the past year. The city, according to Bloomberg, ranks ahead of the European cities of Geneva and Milan.
Los Angeles, CA
Average hotel room cost per night: $158
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Hyatt Regency Los Angeles International Airport, $209
State lodging tax rate: None
Interesting fact: The Los Angeles Millennium Biltmore Hotel opened in 1923. Located in downtown Los Angeles, its classic Gallery Bar and Cognac room ranks in the top 10 hotel bars in Los Angeles.
Honolulu, HI
Average hotel room cost per night: $352
Nearby airport hotel/cost per night: Airport Honolulu Hotel, $209
State lodging tax rate: 14.25%
Interesting fact: Honolulu hosts some of the most ridiculously expensive, but luxurious, hotel suites in the state. For example, for a nightly rate of $10,000 to $12,000, the Kahala Hotel & Resorts has a huge array of amenities, including a free chauffeured trip from the airport, free room service breakfast, and complimentary use of the hotel’s oceanfront cabana.
*Notes on average hotel prices per night:
1. Prices listed are from various web sources, Hotels.com and Expedia.com, as of early August 2022. They reflect costs for double occupancy.
2. According to Business Travel News, in 2022, hotel rates will increase by 13 percent worldwide and another 10 percent in 2023.
3. The source for lodging tax information is the National Conference of States Legislatures webpage.
More Interesting Facts: The US and Global Hotel Industry
The US Hotel Industry
The first hotel in the newly independent US was in 1794, with 73 rooms.
In early 2021, the US inventory of hotel rooms was 5.29 million.
Because of the pandemic, in 2020 the occupancy rate for US hotel rooms was only 44%, with more unsold rooms than in the economic crisis of 2009. The US hotel occupancy rate likewise declined during the height of the pandemic in 2020.
The profit margin for the average US hotel is 30%. That margin is low when compared to other industries. Again, during 2020, hotel profitability plunged dramatically to an average of around 18%.
Extended-stay hotels accounted for nearly 30% of the 833 new hotels opened in the United States during 2020, growing the extended-stay inventory by 10.3%. The most popular was Home2 Suites, operated by Hilton.
The Global Hotel Industry
JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock
No one has ever counted exactly how many hotels and hotel rooms there are worldwide. Estimates amount to 17.5 million guest rooms with about 187,000 hotels, but those are just educated guesses.
The Wyndham Hotel Group is the largest hotel company in the world, operating over 9,200 hotels in June 2020. Runner up is Marriott International with 7,600, followed by Choice, with just over 7,000 hotels.
Second-place Marriott International has the largest number of hotel rooms, surpassing runner-up Hilton by 400,000 rooms at about $160 per night.
The global pandemic likewise took a toll on the hotel business worldwide, falling from 10% of the world’s GDP to 5.5%. The global hotel revenue also dropped by 45%. Analysts expect that number to rebound to $285 billion from the 2020 low of $198.6 billion.
Malaysia owns the record for the world’s largest hotel, the First World Hotel & Plaza with 7,351 rooms and an on-site theme park.
Finally, these 5 International Hotels Are the World’s Most Expensive
1. Running a close second to Las Vegas for $100,000 per night is Empathy Suite Sky Villa’s Royal Penthouse Suite at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, Switzerland. The suite costs $80,000 per night and has a wrap-around terrace and a telescope for star gazing. The suite includes a Steinway grand piano and the world’s largest TV screen at 103 inches.
2. Return to the Roaring Twenties and stay at the French Riviera’s Hotel Martinez Penthouse Suite in Cannes, France. For $55,000 a night, guests enjoy the top floor of the hotel, with a Mediterranean Sea view, a king bed, and a dining and living area.
3. Head to the south seas for a $50,000 per night stay at Hilltop Villa on Laucala Island, Fiji. The villa is perched at the top of the island. It is a massive three-bedroom complex, complete with a cook, nanny, and private chauffeur.
4. The Cheval Blanc Randheli Resort in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean is in a coral reef protected group of tiny islands. This unique resort has 46 villas in an island, water, and garden setting. Its most expensive offering is the $50,000 per night, four-bedroom villa on a private island.
5. Head to Athens, Greece, to the $45,000 per night Royal Villa of Grand Resort Lagonissi. Located in the south suburbs of Athens, this island-like resort, upscale guests enjoy great dining, a spa and a wellness treatment center, along with dedicated concierge services. The villa also has its own indoor and outdoor heated swimming pools.
