Morning:
14°c
A huge influx of tourists into London this summer has pushed up hotel room rates to make them the second most expensive in Europe.
The average nightly price of £134 is two per cent higher than last year and behind only Geneva on £157, according to price comparison website Trivago.
London is bucking the trend across Britain and the Continent as chains slash their rates to fill rooms. The cost of a night in Barcelona has fallen by 28per cent, in Amsterdam by nine per cent and Paris by one per cent.
Hoteliers said the weakness of sterling against other currencies, particularly the euro, had attracted large numbers of tourists from France, Italy, Spain and Germany, which is starting to offset the fall in the number of business guests.
The survey, based on data from 40,000 hotels, also found that Birmingham's average room rate was down 20 per cent and Brighton's 14 per cent.
A spokeswoman for the Maybourne Group, which owns Claridge's, the Connaught and the Berkeley, said: "This is a tougher year but all our hotels are proving resilient. We had a record Wimbledon and occupancy has remained healthy throughout the year."
A Trivago spokesman said: "There has been a substantial drop in prices in the most popular holiday destinations. London has only become more expensive for the Brits."
