The Best—And Worst—Months to Book Hotels in the Most Popular U.S. Cities

Everyone needs a break to unwind and explore new locations, but choosing the time of the year you want to travel can be just has important as where you want to go.

Different cities offer different options, from special attractions and museums to spas and beaches. But are you willing to pay more to go to a beach on the best weather days or enjoy the sights when they're the most popular? And just how much of a change is the price when you go at peak times?

Business travel company Engine (via Visual Capitalist) ran the numbers and found that some cities have bigger swings than others for the median cost of a hotel room. So before you pack your bags, you may want to check the calendar below to make sure you're ready to pay the cost for those more expensive months of the year—or avoid them if you can.

The Big Apple Has a Big Cost

New York City already has the highest median annual hotel rate at $335 for a one-night stay, but it can get much worse in the busiest months. The worst time to go to the Big Apple is in December when the city hits its peak as tourists come to town for the holidays. But once the New Year is done and the confetti is cleaned out of Times Square, the demand for a hotel room plummets.

A hotel room in the most expensive month of December has a median cost of $541 while in January, it's only $196. That's a 103% swing in cost, making it the biggest swing of any major city. And of the cities with the top 10 biggest swings, it's the only one with the most and least expensive months being only a month apart.

Second-place Phoenix has a similar issue when it comes to weather. Just as no one wants to visit cold and snowy New York in January after the holidays are done, it's easy to get a cheap hotel in Phoenix in August. Expect a hotel room to only cost $96 there in August compared to a $246 hotel room in February or March, marking a 94% swing. It’s the heat that visitors try to avoid in Arizona. In August, temperatures can reach an average of 104 degrees while February is usually a pleasant 71 degrees.

Like New York City, third-place Boston also sees hotel prices fall to their lowest level in January, but its most expensive month is October. A hotel room costs around $458 that month compared to the snow of January and a $166 median price tag for a hotel room. That's an 88% change in hotel prices.

The bigger the swing, the more attentive you may need to be when it comes to booking a trip. Here are the ones that see the biggest price swings:

Los Angeles Sees Little Change

If you want somewhere sunny and warm anytime of year, Southern California may be the place for you. In Los Angeles, the cheapest hotel room can be found in January for a median price of $157, compared to $181 in October when it's the most expensive. That's only a 14% change in price, which may reflect the city's weather as well. L.A. is around 68 degrees in January compared to 78 degrees in October, which is a much smaller difference than some states with snowy winters and muggy summers see.

Texas is also well represented with small swings in hotel room prices. Second-place San Antonio has hotel rooms for a median price of only $99 in January but in March and July, its biggest months, the cost is about $124, which is only a 21% swing. Dallas-Fort Worth is in third place with December hotel rooms costing around $112, while June costs a median of $139. That difference is only 22%.

The cities with the smallest price swings include: