NL Hotel prices fall

The price of a night's stay in a hotel in the Netherlands has fallen by 1 percent. Travelers on average paid €120 for a room.  These figures came out on Tuesday from a presented Hotel Price Index from Hotels.com. The index cited hotels in eight Dutch destinations. Three of these cities saw the fall in price, and in the other five cities the hotel prizes actually went up. Amsterdam, a popular destination, maintained pricey hotel rooms. A night in Amsterdam cost a traveler an average of €135. This is 2 percent more than it was in 2012.

It's been a busy year for Amsterdam. The city celebrated the 400th anniversary of the 'grachtengordel' (canal belt), the re-opening of the Rijksmuseum, the finals of the UEFA Europa League and the inauguration of King Willem-Alexander. No wonder, then, that travelers paid top-dollar to be in the city. In second and third place, respectively, are Maastricht where a hotel cost an average of €113, and The Hague with €104. Tourists on a shoe-string budget could find the cheapest stay in Groningen, at €83. Rotterdam saw the steepest climb in hotel prices. These rose an average of 4 percent to €94 per night. The Maasstad is internationally renowned for its impressive skyline and diverse architectural styles. Rough Guides placed Rotterdam in the top ten 'must see' cities for the coming year. Globally, hotel prices rose in 2013 by 3 percent. This means that hotel prices have been on the rise for the last four consecutive years, after being hit hard by the financial crisis of 2008-2009.