What Americans Pay for a Night in Asia

Quick: What city in Asia charges the highest hotel prices? Tokyo? Hong Kong? Singapore? Wrong. Langkawi, Malaysia.
According to a recent report, hotels in the upscale resort area charged travelers from the U.S. the highest average nightly rates in Asia last year — US$201 — an 11 % increase from 2009.
Of course, in 2009, the time of the global financial crisis, prices dropped dramatically. One place whose hotels recovered dramatically from that 2009 drop was Singapore: Daily rates averaged $198 last year, up 33% from 2009, though still a bit short of their $201 average of 2008.
The study, by hotels.com, is based on 18,304 online bookings made and paid for by U.S. travelers and covers the range of accommodations from budget to five-star.
Prices in Bali, Indonesia were high, too: The resort area’s hotels charged U.S. tourists an average $188 a night, up 35% — a jump the study attributed largely to the island’s use as a setting for the 2010 feature film

Original article here..

AL :- 

Looking at the below comparison i'm not sure what this review is based on. It seems that Langkawi will be on the top list for the most expensive pays per night compared to australia, singapore or even Bali. 

Well, if they compared with Datai or Andaman or  Tanjung Rhu or 4 Season maybe they're right. I think it should cover or take other hotels as a whole not selectively.


“Eat, Pray, Love,” starring Julia Roberts.
On average, room rates in Asia were up 4%, to $145. That takes in the 19% rise in China, to $118; the 17% rise in Malaysia, to $148; and the 10% rise in South Korea, to $149.
They all look cheap beside what U.S. visitors to French Polynesia’s Bora Bora paid for a room last year: almost US$606 a night on average, the highest in the world. By comparison, hotels in Italy cost an average $185 a night; in France, $191.

“International travel for U.S. travelers has historically been to destinations such as Europe and Canada,” says Miguel Oliveira, hotels.com director of global merchandising strategies. “In the past two years, we’ve noticed a steady increase of U.S. travelers to Asia, and a subsequent increase in Asia’s room rates.”
Not all cities in Asia experienced an increase in rates in 2010. In Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, prices fell 16% to US$132. Jaipur, India, hotels dropped nightly rates by 9% to US$112; and in Osaka, Japan, hotels charged, on average, $126 in 2010, or 16% less than in 2009. Hotels.com, based in Dallas, Texas, didn’t speculate on the reasons.

A list of the average rates paid by U.S. travelers on hotels.com follows:

City	Country	Average price paid in 2009, in US$	Average price paid in 2010, in US$	% change
Langkawi	Malaysia	180	201	11%
Singapore	Singapore	147	196	33%
Bali	Indonesia	139	188	35%
Busan	South Korea	170	188	11%
Florence	Italy	164	171	5%
Nusa Dua	Indonesia	153	168	10%
Tokyo	Japan	172	168	-2%
Ko Samui	Thailand	173	167	-4%
Kyoto	Japan	170	166	-2%
Hong Kong	China	128	162	27%
Cairo	Egypt	158	158	0%
Macau	Macau	143	158	11%
New Delhi	India	142	158	11%
Brisbane	Australia	133	156	17%
Seoul	South Korea	138	151	9%
Guangzhou	China	112	144	29%
Shanghai	China	115	142	23%
Ubud	Indonesia	121	137	13%
Jakarta	Indonesia	120	136	13%
Kota Kinabalu	Malaysia	156	132	-16%
Krabi	Thailand	134	132	-2%
Qingdao	China	122	128	5%
Osaka	Japan	149	126	-16%
Penang	Malaysia	97	125	29%
Cairns	Australia	109	123	13%
Sapporo	Japan	136	119	-12%
Melbourne	Australia	101	115	14%
Beijing	China	112	114	1%
Shenzhen	China	98	113	16%
Jaipur	India	123	112	-9%
Hua Hin	Thailand	120	111	-7%
Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	96	111	15%
Kuta	Indonesia	121	110	-9%
Nanjing	China	100	105	5%
Auckland	New Zealand	95	102	8%
Bangkok	Thailand	94	93	-1%
Siem Reap	Cambodia	90	84	-6%
Chiang Mai	Thailand	81	83	3%
Pattaya	Thailand	76	83	9%
Cebu	Philippines	86	80	-7%