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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Quarantine hotel room rate hikes up to 82 percent
Quarantine hotels in Hong Kong were overflowed till late August and the room rate sees a strike of up to 82 percent compared to last year.
This came after students studying overseas are returning as the summer vacation approaching, while more citizens are planning to travel to Japan, Thailand and Korea as the border reopened.
Compared to the fourth round of designated quarantine hotels last summer, the eighth round (August 1 to October 31) saw nearly one-third of quarantine hotels increase their rates by more than 50 percent, of which JEN in Sai Wan charged 82.3 percent more from HK$498 to HK$908 per night.
The second-highest price surge goes to CM+ Hotels and Serviced Apartments, which increased from HK$1,800 to HK$3,200 per night, a surge of 77.8 percent.
Only one of the 31 hotels with both rounds, Dorsett Kwun Tong, reduced their room rates from HK$800 to HK$790 per night. Meanwhile, two hotels, One-Eight-One and Metropark Hotel Kowloon maintain their room rates at HK$1,964 and HK$580 respectively.
According to the government's website, the room vacancy of hotels designated for the eighth round of quarantine is currently tight, with only a few rooms left in most hotels in August.
Trip.com said since the government announced the list of hotels in the eighth round on June 16, nearly 80,000 visitors have searched on the website in the first three days, of whom 30,000 have made a booking. Nearly half of the reservations were made on the first day on June 17, a record high for quarantine hotel bookings in a single day.
The latest data suggested that the peak period of stay was from August to September, while a significant increase was also recorded in flight ticket bookings to Hong Kong, mainly from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and the Philippines.
An industry player said the main reason for the soaring room rates was the rise in operating costs, as the government requires air purifiers in each room and floor. At the same time, hotels also need to increase the number of reception staff.
As hotels must provide customers with three meals, the cost of food materials could increase by more than 10 percent. Therefore, the cost would eventually be passed on to customers.
He also said the scalping of quarantine hotel rooms does exist, but the actual operation is difficult so that would likely be isolated incidents.
He added that hotel rooms were in short supply every summer and have now become a problem of strong social demand, calling on the government to increase more hotels for quarantine.
Compared to the fourth round of designated quarantine hotels last summer, the eighth round (August 1 to October 31) saw nearly one-third of quarantine hotels increase their rates by more than 50 percent, of which JEN in Sai Wan charged 82.3 percent more from HK$498 to HK$908 per night.
The second-highest price surge goes to CM+ Hotels and Serviced Apartments, which increased from HK$1,800 to HK$3,200 per night, a surge of 77.8 percent.
Only one of the 31 hotels with both rounds, Dorsett Kwun Tong, reduced their room rates from HK$800 to HK$790 per night. Meanwhile, two hotels, One-Eight-One and Metropark Hotel Kowloon maintain their room rates at HK$1,964 and HK$580 respectively.
According to the government's website, the room vacancy of hotels designated for the eighth round of quarantine is currently tight, with only a few rooms left in most hotels in August.
Trip.com said since the government announced the list of hotels in the eighth round on June 16, nearly 80,000 visitors have searched on the website in the first three days, of whom 30,000 have made a booking. Nearly half of the reservations were made on the first day on June 17, a record high for quarantine hotel bookings in a single day.
The latest data suggested that the peak period of stay was from August to September, while a significant increase was also recorded in flight ticket bookings to Hong Kong, mainly from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and the Philippines.
An industry player said the main reason for the soaring room rates was the rise in operating costs, as the government requires air purifiers in each room and floor. At the same time, hotels also need to increase the number of reception staff.
As hotels must provide customers with three meals, the cost of food materials could increase by more than 10 percent. Therefore, the cost would eventually be passed on to customers.
He also said the scalping of quarantine hotel rooms does exist, but the actual operation is difficult so that would likely be isolated incidents.
He added that hotel rooms were in short supply every summer and have now become a problem of strong social demand, calling on the government to increase more hotels for quarantine.
