NYC hotel rooms are pricier than ever with supposedly budget-friendly hotels out of reach for many tourists

New York City hotel rates are hitting all-time highs ahead of the holidays — with luxury rooms at unprecedented levels and supposedly budget-friendly hotels increasingly out of reach for many tourists, The Post has learned.The biggest hikes are happening at the poshest properties.At the recently renovated Four Seasons on East 57th Street, visitors on Thanksgiving can expect to pay $2,912 a night including taxes and fees for a 500-square-foot junior suite, according to the swanky venue’s site.But sticker shock has been arguably greater at lower-tier venues.

Last week, the Holiday Inn Express in Chelsea was advertising same-day booking for a standard room at a punishing $435 a night.Its site was asking $545 to book the same room on Thanksgiving, adding, ‘Well done! You’re getting a great price,” on a checkout page.

“We were surprised by just how expensive the nearby hotel options were,” said Lisa Hawkins, a spokesperson for the Washington, DC-based Distilled Spirits Council of the US who had to book rooms in Manhattan for a event the trade group hosted last week in SoHo.“Even the more value-oriented hotels were around $550 a night, while some options exceeded $1,000,” Hawkins added.Ultimately, the trade group opted for a “budget-friendly” property near its event “given that we needed multiple rooms,” she said.After hitting rock-bottom in the depths of the pandemic, New York City hotels have come roaring back this year.

In September, nightly room rates in the Big Apple hit a record monthly average of $468.54 — exactly 96 cents above the previous all-time monthly average set last December, according to CoStar Group, a firm that tracks hotel data.Despite record room rates, hoteliers claim they remain victims of relentless inflation – fueled by regulatory hurdles, utility costs, real estate taxes and the highest labor costs in the country – that continues to eat into profits.“The hotel industry continues to face headwinds — not least...