NYC Hotel Rooms Pricier Than Ever Due to Hotels Housing Migrants

But it’s not just the rise in tourists to New York City that’s driving up prices: turmoil in the Airbnb rental market, inflation, and a slowdown in new hotel construction.

And, as The New York Times recently reported: The migrant crisis has also caused hotel prices to riseDuring the pandemic, many hotels began accepting migrants, some even catering exclusively to migrants.

This has reduced the supply of available rooms and caused prices to rise for guests looking for accommodation within the city. About 135 of New York City’s roughly 700 hotels are currently hosting asylum seekers, according to The New York Times. These hotels are making up to $185 per room per night, according to the city.

Hotels that have switched to housing migrants have not yet returned to normal hotel operations, the Times reported.

Hotels currently hosting migrants have blocked about 16,500 of their available hotel rooms, leaving nearly 122,000 available for travelers, according to CoStar data. There are about 2,800 fewer rooms available for travelers in the city than there were just before the coronavirus pandemic.

“During peak times, try to book a hotel in midtown Manhattan for Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday nights. If you can get a room, you may end up paying a premium,” Daniel H. Lesser, president and CEO of LW Hospitality Advisors, told the Times. “It’s all about supply and demand, and immigrant rooms are reducing supply.”

Immigration has emerged as a defining issue in the 2024 presidential election, with many voters unhappy with President Joe Biden’s handling of the issue, while former President Donald Trump has used it to rally Republicans and independents to his campaign.

Since 2022, more than 180,000 migrants have arrived in New York City. Tens of thousands of people sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbott Mayor Eric Adams faces enormous financial and logistical challenges trying to house migrants in protest of Biden’s immigration policies.

New York City’s hotel market was hit hard in 2020. Business travel plummeted and the city, once the epicenter of COVID-19, struggled to recover from the resulting economic fallout.

However, last year the city’s hotel market recovered significantly, and the city Hotel revenue increases by $380 million According to the Wall Street Journal, travel industry sales are on track to hit $2 billion this year, a projection that, if accurate, would be a remarkable turnaround given the challenges the industry has faced during the pandemic.