High hotel prices make Alpine holidays harder to afford

Hotel rooms in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Füssen are currently costing around 240 euros a night, often as a standard rate, BR24 reports. Travellers can still reduce the cost of a mountain holiday by choosing smaller providers, cheaper regions or the low season.

The five-member Binder family from Worms is visiting Garmisch-Partenkirchen for the first time. Because hotels in the town were too expensive, they chose accommodation in the surrounding area. They are paying 2,300 euros for a week at a three-star hotel, but are disappointed with the service.

“There is a check-in machine outside the accommodation. This is our third day here, and we still haven’t met anyone from the hotel. There is no room service,” Tanja Binder said.

Other holidaymakers in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Füssen reported similar experiences, while prices on booking platforms show comparable rates in parts of the Allgäu, including around Füssen near Neuschwanstein and in Oberstdorf.

Stefan Egenter, managing director of Allgäu GmbH, attributed the rising prices to higher costs for energy, staff, food and necessary investment. He said prices were increasing across Germany and the Alpine region, although Alpine resorts were recording particularly high rates. The Bavarian Hotel and Restaurant Association Dehoga said it did not have the requested figures on the increase in overnight prices.

Tourism consultancy Kohl and Partner puts the average price of a hotel night this summer at 330 euros in South Tyrol and 240 euros in Bavaria. Rates are even higher during the peak season in mid-August.

Egenter pointed to the range of accommodation available, from small private guesthouses and farms to hotels. Walter Rutz, head of tourism in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, said some small hotels offered rooms for 150 euros a night. Finding one during the peak season in popular destinations, however, requires good fortune.

High accommodation costs are also affecting spending during holidays. Rutz said hotels and retailers were seeing guests hold back on purchases, while spending at bars in the evening was also declining.

The Natursport Akademie, an institution that trains mountain biking, kayaking and hiking instructors, has responded by moving some courses to places with cheaper accommodation. Project manager Christine Hammer said the organisation could not offer participants the traditional 200-euro hotel night in any of its courses.

Prices vary widely between Alpine resorts and across Bavaria. Current average hotel-room rates are around 300 euros in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 150 euros in the Achental valley in Chiemgau and 100 euros in Bischofsgrün in the Fichtelgebirge. Rutz said the industry needed to ensure prices did not become unaffordable for families. Accommodation becomes substantially cheaper mainly in the low season, which is of limited help to families with school-age children.