The Best and Worst Months to Book a Hotel in U.S. Cities

Key Takeaways

Hotel rates can vary dramatically by season, with New York showing a 103% swing between its cheapest and most expensive months.
Phoenix hotels are cheapest in August at $96 per night, compared with $246 in February and March.
Los Angeles has the smallest seasonal swing among the 20 cities shown, at just 14%.

If you’ve booked a hotel lately, you know that it’s a game of roulette.

One month it seems like you get a screaming deal, but then the next time you book, prices have mysteriously skyrocketed. Is it seasonal or is that by chance?

This visualization helps explain some of that variance by breaking down the best and worst months to book a hotel in U.S. cities.

The data and visualization both come from business travel company Engine, which put together a proprietary dataset on hotel prices by month for 50 U.S. cities using 129 million data points.

Highs and Lows of Hotel Prices by U.S. City

The table below summarizes the cheapest and most expensive months for the 20 cities shown above, along with each city’s median nightly rate and seasonal price swing.

For readers looking beyond these major markets, the complete dataset for all 50 cities appears at the bottom of this post.

City	Cheapest Month	Median Rate	Most Expensive Month	Swing
New York	Jan: $196	$335	Dec: $541	103%
Phoenix	Aug: $96	$159	Feb/Mar: $246	94%
Boston	Jan: $166	$331	Oct: $458	88%
Miami	Sep: $128	$179	Feb: $267	78%
San Diego	Dec: $156	$195	Jul: $292	70%
Chicago	Jan: $127	$274	Jun: $319	70%
New Orleans	Aug: $124	$165	Feb: $231	65%
Denver	Jan/Dec: $121	$169	Jun: $221	59%
Nashville	Jan: $136	$195	Oct: $243	55%
Washington, D.C.	Aug: $179	$287	May: $317	48%
Austin	Aug: $134	$164	Oct: $209	46%
Houston	Dec: $114	$135	Mar: $174	44%
San Francisco	Dec: $129	$166	Mar: $197	41%
Orlando	Aug/Sep: $101	$129	Feb: $150	38%
Minneapolis	Dec: $111	$137	Jul: $156	33%
Las Vegas	Jun: $132	$154	Oct: $180	31%
Atlanta	Dec: $120	$150	Jul: $160	27%
Dallas–Fort Worth	Dec: $112	$125	Jun: $139	22%
San Antonio	Jan: $99	$117	Mar/Jul: $124	21%
Los Angeles	Jan: $157	$169	Oct: $181	14%

The swing percentage is calculated as the priciest month minus the least expensive month, divided by the median price.

Cities With the Biggest Price Swings

The three cities with the biggest seasonal price swings in the dataset are New York (103%), Phoenix (94%), and Boston (88%).

The Big Apple has the most interesting contrast here, especially as the most visited city in the country. In December, it costs a high of $541 to book a hotel, but in January, after Christmas and New Year’s celebrations are over, that drops to a low of $196.

Similarly, January is the cheapest time to go to Boston ($166), with its priciest month being October ($458).

Phoenix shows the opposite pattern because of how hot the desert is in summer. Hotel prices plummet to $96 per night in August, but during the winter months of February and March, hotel prices peak at $246.

Cities That Have the Least Variance

But not all U.S. cities have intense seasonal variance. For these U.S. cities, there is no real best or worst month to book a hotel.

Los Angeles, with year-round good weather, is the clearest example in the dataset, with just 14% variance in hotel prices. The cheapest month for a hotel is January ($157), but it only costs $24 more per night to book in the most expensive month, October ($181).

Two cities in Texas, San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth, also show little variance by month in hotel prices, at 21% and 22%, respectively.

The Full Data Set for 50 Cities

Below is the full dataset for all 50 cities.

City	Median	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Swing
New York	335	196	202	277	335	372	327	268	273	458	429	352	541	103%
Palm Springs	204	241	288	369	359	204	171	161	158	171	198	228	204	103%
Phoenix	159	177	246	246	173	131	105	98	96	118	159	161	137	94%
Norfolk	129	96	99	116	129	151	178	216	194	130	123	105	101	93%
Boston	331	166	186	267	331	390	368	332	314	434	458	301	187	88%
Omaha	110	98	106	105	110	126	182	120	115	110	111	102	95	79%
Miami	179	233	267	258	215	179	157	149	135	128	159	176	237	78%
Seattle	212	139	150	159	169	213	279	297	272	253	212	165	142	75%
Chicago	274	127	139	188	204	305	319	274	280	300	293	208	154	70%
Milwaukee	130	109	108	117	123	132	163	194	158	136	130	114	103	70%
San Diego	195	157	183	189	194	202	231	292	209	195	195	171	156	70%
New Orleans	165	153	231	198	205	165	134	153	124	138	228	195	152	65%
Denver	169	121	139	138	166	169	221	213	194	199	182	135	121	59%
Tampa	167	199	233	224	212	167	152	143	135	135	152	159	168	59%
Nashville	195	136	152	178	197	196	215	185	195	220	243	187	146	55%
Albuquerque	131	111	116	127	131	134	136	131	127	134	179	117	111	52%
Charleston	173	123	145	199	205	208	196	195	173	164	167	152	123	49%
Washington, D.C.	287	196	200	303	315	317	287	223	179	290	302	224	182	48%
Philadelphia	203	166	169	203	222	259	244	199	183	212	246	197	162	48%
Austin	164	145	168	190	169	159	150	142	134	166	209	164	140	46%
Houston	135	119	135	174	146	139	141	134	129	131	135	129	114	44%
San Francisco	166	166	166	197	159	168	169	154	152	192	176	147	129	41%
Indianapolis	125	114	107	122	133	158	140	155	125	117	134	122	112	41%
Cincinnati	133	106	108	118	139	133	152	156	142	135	125	110	104	39%
Orlando	129	132	150	143	133	120	130	117	101	101	114	121	129	38%
Pittsburgh	158	131	131	134	169	180	191	156	158	172	183	150	135	38%
Cleveland	158	124	124	139	146	158	173	183	173	178	158	141	128	37%
Minneapolis	137	114	114	125	130	137	152	156	144	141	143	122	111	33%
Salt Lake City	141	125	127	141	151	154	160	143	135	148	136	121	115	32%
Las Vegas	154	158	143	159	151	161	132	135	135	156	180	154	148	31%
Louisville	141	106	134	144	147	144	127	144	124	149	141	118	110	30%
Detroit	197	168	170	170	188	214	214	218	197	212	228	171	168	30%
Portland	125	109	118	116	120	127	143	145	139	128	125	114	109	29%
Atlanta	150	150	147	154	159	149	155	160	142	139	151	127	120	27%
St. Louis	156	129	136	161	162	161	170	167	154	156	144	142	131	26%
Jacksonville	121	119	126	142	126	127	118	121	113	111	119	118	121	26%
Kansas City	142	117	123	132	146	149	153	146	134	142	146	135	125	25%
Oklahoma City	97	90	90	98	102	108	111	99	97	97	93	93	87	25%
Savannah	138	118	137	152	149	148	148	136	126	138	144	133	121	25%
Baltimore	142	118	128	127	134	147	152	146	142	144	144	125	118	24%
Columbus	127	110	110	119	119	141	128	135	127	127	127	122	110	24%
Honolulu	184	182	193	178	180	180	204	211	198	184	177	169	211	23%
Dallas–Fort Worth	125	122	123	127	129	124	139	128	121	125	130	119	112	22%
Sacramento	148	140	140	147	148	148	159	168	159	148	166	136	137	22%
Raleigh–Durham	135	119	125	130	135	140	143	133	130	135	148	135	129	21%
San Antonio	117	99	122	124	118	109	122	124	107	107	117	109	106	21%
Charlotte	131	120	126	128	133	145	139	132	129	131	137	131	125	19%
Memphis	118	107	112	123	118	124	118	122	117	115	117	119	103	18%
Los Angeles	169	157	169	175	169	173	174	176	168	166	181	163	162	14%
El Paso	126	119	123	128	126	121	130	118	123	127	128	127	117	10%

For further analysis, we recommend checking out Engine’s original post, which includes some interactive data visualizations as well.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

What type of accommodation do Americans opt for when travelling? This visual on Voronoi compares hotels against other types of accommodation like vacation apartments, cruises, and motorhomes.

Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-best-and-worst-months-to-book-a-hotel-in-u-s-cities/

The Best and Worst Months to Book a Hotel in U.S. Cities