Paris hotels cheaper for Kiwis than Queenstown

It's cheaper for Kiwis to spend a night at a hotel in Paris than it is for an overnight stay in Queenstown. Photo / Getty Images

It's cheaper for Kiwis to spend a night at a hotel in Paris than it is for an overnight stay in Queenstown, a survey has found.

On average, the price paid for a room in Paris was $211 in the first half of 2015, while visitors to New Zealand's adventure capital paid an average of $226 a night for a room booked through website Hotels.com.

Of all cities covered by the website, Paris saw the biggest fall in average prices paid, with a 21 per cent decrease in price the first six months of this year, compared to the same time last year.

Overall, New Zealand hotel prices cost an average of $171 per night over the first half of 2015 - an increase of 9 per cent compared to the same time last year.

The biggest increase was seen in Auckland, where the average price of a room booked through the website increased 16 per cent to $171 per night.

A Hotels.com spokeswoman said the average rise across New Zealand was driven primarily by a higher demand for accomodation during events like the Cricket World Cup.

Areas where matches were played included Dunedin, which saw a 4 per cent increase to $158, Christchurch, which was up 2 per cent to $167 a night and Wellington, up 10 per cent to from $148 to $164.

Other New Zealand cities that saw strong increases included Queenstown (14 per cent to $226), Te Anau (11 per cent to $158), Palmerston North (12 per cent to $133) and Invercargill (12 per cent to $119).

Blenheim was the only place in New Zealand to experience a decrease in hotel prices over the period, down 1 per cent to $166.

Across the ditch, Cairns saw a decrease of 16 per cent to $155 a night for Kiwis booking accommodation through the site in the first six months of this year, compared with the same time last year.

Brisbane also saw a decrease, of 12 per cent to $176 per night between January and June this year.

The cities that saw the biggest increase in price for Kiwis booking accommodation through the site were Washington DC, up 25 per cent to $273 a night, Nadi up 20 per cent to $255 a night and Shanghai, up 20 per cent to $255.

Of the international cities with the greatest increase, the most expensive was San Francisco, where the price of a room jumped 17 per cent from $266 in the first half of 2014 to $311 a night in the first half of this year.