Paris hotel prices to almost half of peak rates ahead of Olympic Games

Paris hotel prices during the Olympics have fallen to almost half their peak rate, further underscoring that overzealous hoteliers may have misjudged the appetite for expensive rooms.

Accommodations are now being listed for an average of €313 ($340) a night between July 26 and Aug. 11, down 41 percent from the peak rate of €531 observed around 11 months before the Games, according to data from travel insights company Lighthouse.

Rates are still well above the average of €175 during the same period last summer, but this drop indicates that visitors are little inclined to shell out exorbitant amounts even for a major event such as the Olympics, which were last held in the French capital 100 years ago.

Hoteliers who have been best able to avoid lowering prices over the past year are likely those who opted for more reasonable increases in the first place. Laetitia Brandariz-Berrut, manager of the four-star Hotel Bedford and three-star Hotel de l’Arcade, both in the 8th arrondissement, says she was charging a premium of 20 percent to 25 percent beyond her previously held maximum rates.

“You can’t be too greedy and try to sell rooms at unrealistic prices,” Brandariz-Berrut says. “We kept our prices and took the gamble to not drop them.”

Luxury hotels have been hit hard, even though they didn’t increase their prices to the same extent as three- and four-star properties.

Demand for these spots collapsed before the Games, with occupancy rates as low as 15 percent for some July dates. Industry experts say media reports on overloaded metro lines, tightened security perimeters and concerns about traffic in the city center may have deterred visitors from booking or even prompted cancellations.

Still, overall hotel occupancy is solid, standing at 78.2 percent for the week of July 22 and 76.2 percent for the week of July 29, compared with 51.4 percent and 50.1 percent for the corresponding weeks in 2023, data from tourism research company MKG

Consulting show. Occupancy tapers off the week of Aug. 5, to 48.3 percent, on par with 44.8 percent a year ago.

“We’re seeing a good dynamic,” MKG Chief Executive Officer Vanguelis Panayotis says, adding that Olympics bookings will help make up for a lackluster June and early July. “And the prices aren’t bad. We’re in a phase where the market is correcting itself.”

With prices newly lowered and two weeks of Olympics events soon to kick off, there’s still time for occupancy levels to rise. Lighthouse data indicate that on-the-books occupancy for the Olympics is currently 74.7 percent. At this point last year, 51.7 percent of rooms had been booked for the same period in 2023, with last-minute reservations eventually bringing occupancy rates to 72.8 percent. In other words: Hotels still have time to fill their rooms, and may even continue to do so after the opening ceremony.