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The 25 U.S. Cities With the Most Expensive Hotels

These destinations may bust your budget.
ByCaLea Johnson|
It looks like Boston takes the cake when it comes to America‘s most expensive hotel stays.
It looks like Boston takes the cake when it comes to America‘s most expensive hotel stays. | Klaus Vedfelt/GettyImages

Let’s face it—traveling expenses are through the roof. When you consider the cost of plane tickets, food, and activities, none of it seems to come cheap. If you’re looking to save on hotels, you may have the hardest time in the cities below.

The hospitality website Gourmet Marketing compiled a list of places with hotel prices that could put a damper on your budget. To do this, analysts examined average hotel costs across 100 major U.S. cities. They specifically looked at hotel prices listed on Booking.com for a one-night stay from Saturday, June 14 to Sunday, June 15. The researchers focused on establishments with a 3-star rating or higher and a location within approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) of the city center. 

Boston comes out on top, with an average hotel price of $460.56. The city is rich in historical sites, such as the Freedom Trail and the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, making it ideal for those who want to travel back in time. New York City receives its fair share of international and domestic visitors, which is likely why it has the second-highest average hotel cost (at $ 404.07). With iconic attractions like the Statue of Liberty and Times Square, it’s an unsurprising destination option for many travelers.

Orlando, Florida, also has hefty hotel prices, but it’s a popular summer vacation city due to its family-friendly amusement parks, beaches, and plenty of other activities. Although Orlando’s hotels average out at $401.14 a night in this research, a WalletHub list dubbed it the city with the lowest rate for 3-star hotel stays ($42), excluding the 1.9-mile radius from city centers.

25 American Cities With Sky-High Hotel Prices

Rank

City

Average Hotel Price

1

Boston, Massachusets

$460.56

2

New York City

$404.07

3

Orlando, Florida

$401.14

4

Virginia Beach, Virginia

$393.44

5

Buffalo, New York

$386.75

6

Chicago, Illinois

$353.33

7

Los Angeles, California

$346.69

8

Seattle, Washington

$315.98

9

Miami, Florida

$297.51

10

Washington, D.C.

$295.50

11

Detroit, Michigan

$295.38

12

Cincinnati, Ohio

$294.57

13

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

$292.27

14

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

$286.38

15

Cleveland, Ohio

$274.00

16

Las Vegas, Nevada

$271.31

17

Sacramento, California

$254.65

18

Denver, Colorado

$253.86

19

Raleigh, North Carolina

$249.15

20

Long Beach, California

$246.07

21

Irvine, California

$244.42

22

San Diego, California

$242.58

23

Kansas City, Missouri

$236.35

24

Durham, North Carolina

$235.00

25

Wichita, Kansas

$233.33

Finding reasonably priced accommodations for your trip may be a bit challenging, but Google can make the process a little easier. In March 2025, the tech company introduced a feature that tracks hotel costs, similar to Google Flights. All you need to do is pick your travel destination, a time frame, and the number of people going on the trip. You can even filter places according to your desired features, such as ratings and accommodations with free breakfast. 

Care to go down a hotel-focused rabbit hole? Here’s a list of 2024’s most haunted hotels, according to guest reviews. 

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