111 thoughts on “Hawaii Hotel Prices Increase Up To 70%, Helping Stifle Over-Tourism”
Rose
The more i read it’s apparent that the real reason to shut down STR is they are competition. How could anyone afford a hotel plus eating out etc? And No ….I work too hard for my money to be able to justify those rates. I can say that owners are not making 4 to 5 times what renters pay…but the hotels are doing just fine….nightly plus plus plus!
150 years my extended family has lived in Hawaii. One by one we have moved to the mainland for work. Now we can’t afford to return to vacation where we were born and raised.
Yes Carol, same here. I am 4th generation and had to leave. I can’t always stay with ohana as there are multiple families living together because of housing issues. We rent STR so that we can have them over, a hotel would not work for us and we can’t afford the hotel prices! If they prohibit STR’S we might have to bring tents and camp!
Sandi, What has Hawaii or the local residents done to you, to cause you to make such a comment? Carol S. and Rory R. are born and raised locals that were Forced to leave their beautiful home because too many people wanted their Hawaiian dream vacation Every Year or more! And the government and big business were all too happy to oblige. That is ultimately why they had no choice but to leave, only to long for their beloved home and be further saddened because they can’t even afford to visit anymore. We don’t want this to happen to locals who have been fortunate enough to still stay.
I’m sorry to say that the “Aloha Spirit” left Hawaii some time ago. It has become clear that Hawaii does not want visitors/tourists. And I’m not talking about just the “ugly” ones that do not respect Paradise. Hawaii has (or “had”) been my favorite destination since 1970 and I even moved and lived there for several years in the early 80’s. Even then, it was known that the Hawaiians did not want us “haoles”, but our money was very welcome.
It is so sad because Hawaii was my place of refuge and peace, but no longer. And, certainly with the current pricing and attitudes, I won’t be returning…too bad, because I was definitely one of the ones that appreciated and respected the culture and heritage of The Islands.
Ditto Here!. I did exactly as you did in 71…
..And those that are hell bent on visiting in this climate will still fork out there tipping dollars to those that don’t appreciate them, and continually state they are unwelcome…..I Have Listened!
LOL that’s why our government is fighting to cut back on short term rentals as well because they care so much about it! What you have to understand is this isn’t just about the residents here, even visitors don’t want to go places because it’s too crowded everywhere. This appeals to both.
Renting timeshare weeks has allowed us to take our family to Kona and Kauai. I’m sure those costs will be increasing as well. We would never pay $350+ per night for a postage stamp sized room when a resort condo can be found for half that cost. Feeling sad for the residents of Hawaii as they are sure to be affected when these high prices begin to affect their livelihood.
Oh trust me many of our residents are probably celebrating right now, even if many do it for the money they still resent the overcrowding that tourism has created here and will be relieved to see less people here, but visitors will be too because we’ve seen some comments even from them about how crowded it has become around here.
We were in Waikoloa for 3 weeks just after Thanksgiving. We were actually shocked at how few people were there. We could actually get a table at a restaurant without having to have a reservation. the only place that was crowded was the Kona Costco but nowhere as crowded as years past. We’ve been to Hawaii a dozen times in the last 10 years and this past trip had been the least crowded.
Kudos to BOH editors for reporting and following up on this critical issue. We have found annual maintenance timeshare condo fees now nearly double per ownership week since 2019 on Kauai. Supply chain, inflation costs, etc. are all a factor. A Hawaiian vacation is clearly now beyond reach for a majority of Americans. I’m hearing that hotels know that they can solve staffing shortage issues by raising their rates and running lower occupancy percentages and still make more money than pre pandemic. BOH editors, what do you think???
This cannot be sustainable long-term for Hawaii’s economy.
Aloha.
Mahalo for your detailed figures, BOH. I think it’s also important to look at the stability of the intertwined hotel and airline industries. As hotel prices skyrocket, airfares are still very low, and I imagine airlines serving the islands are taking financial hits (even beyond Alaska and UAL’s Max-9 troubles). We were able to book a return flight from Maui on another airline 36 hours before takeoff for _cheap_, after our Alaska flight was cancelled. Fewer passengers will lead to fewer flights, affecting travelers from the mainland, overseas, and the islands. Such a big imbalance will surely come with unintended consequences.
Your governing bodies are nuts. We have been going to the Big Island twice a year for 20 years. Spend 4k at a time. No more. Governor Green and his ilk have alienated a lot of the people that keep Hawaii going.
Been going to Hawaii for 50 years we tent camped on kaui and maui we had no money. We took our 4 kids every 4 years. Cost lots always worth it. Retired now. Last year Maui a decent but old condo cost 10k for the 2 of us for 2 weeks plus airfare. We are going somewhere else this year. It is about what the market will pay. When people cant afford they will stop coming. But if you are hawaii resident your stuck with unaffordable housing. That a national problem too.
I have a wonderful idea. Everyone in Hawaii (except those who own vacation properties) looks to be against vacation rentals. Outlawing them in the hope that it will create more housing for the local population. Why not just house them in all of the soon-to-be empty hotel rooms at all of these overpriced resorts?
Airbnb is still illegal here in Hawaii anyway anywhere outside resort areas. We hear good news that they’re working on cutting back on short term rentals permanently which is such a relief, the hotels are meant for visitors not peoples’ homes.
Thank the rates are high now? What if Green manages to get his fantasy of shutting down all vacation rentals.
This article re Bill 121 is five days old, but was reprinted today at the bottom of the front page of the GIN (a newspaper so thin, it only has a front page). Originally ran in Hawaii Herald Tribune:
The county indicates that there will be 6 opportunities for owners and others to express their concerns. After the first meeting, it seems quite obvious that the concerns raised by the pro vacation rental contingent are going to be ignored
We’ve been visiting Hawaii annually for over 20 years. We stopped going to Maui 5 years ago because of the crowds and chose Kauai and the Big Island as alternatives. This year we’re returning to Maui to support the local people and businesses struggling as a result of the fire. It took me days of searching to find an affordable, clean condo. Don’t know how much longer we’ll choose to pay the crazy cost!
This is Great news!! Capitalism and the law of supply and demand wins again! If I were these hotels, I would do the same thing and continue to charge as Much as the market will bear! And you know what the dirty little secret is? Anyone who is complaining about how high the prices are would do the exact same thing if they owned the hotels. No one is running a charity here. It’s all for profit and that’s the way it should be with something like this. So, good for them! This news made my day!!
I don’t agree. This isn’t greed. This is simply the market and capitalism playing out as it should. The Only way to balance out the overcrowding and over-tourism on these beautiful islands so that they are not ruined (and they are being ruined) is to raise, raise, RAISE those prices! This is a good thing! No One is having a good time under the current arrangement. Residents and tourists alike have a lower quality of life and vacation experience because there are simply Too Many People coming here. And you can’t simply ban people from going anywhere they wish in the U.S.A. And it’s not like raising prices on something that everyone wants is something new. It happens all over the world, so why start complaining now?
Hoping visitors start talking with their pocket books and book their vacations elsewhere. This is a sad situation on how greedy the state of Hawaii has become. Obviously tourists are not welcome and Aloha come with a
Price
I don’t think Pre-COVID hotel prices are a valid comparison point. You can’t compare the cost of buying a house, a car or anything else pre to post COVID. The economy in 2019 was vastly different than post-COVID across the board. That said, I think taxes & fees ( and proposed fees) are excessive.
While we concur, there’s no other point of comparison. 2022 was an entirely different beast. Now that we’re in 2024, we’ll have 2023 with which to compare.
Great article! We always book with CostcoTravel.com unless we find something through Marriott Bonvoy. There are some amazing deals on CostcoTravel right now for Maui (Ritz Carlton Kapalua and Hotel Wailea) 🙂 and the Big Island (Westin Hapuna and the Mauna Kea) :). Book early and book airfare separately.
Mahalo for having the best travel news site in Hawaii! 🙂
Wow! I guess senior citizens and middle and lower class citizens may never get to visit Hawaii amid soaring hotel prices. So unfair that the rich and elite are only ones able to afford it. I guess I won’t be able to share Hawaii with my grandchildren.
Concerned,
Senior Citizen
It’s sad that these hotels have to gouge people so much. We moved to the BI almost 6 years ago and at the time we would easily get rooms for under $100 at nice hotels, then we got AirBnB’s when we were needing to be more rural and not right in Kona or Hilo. Now both the hotels and the AirBnB cost are outrageous. Airbnb’s are really bad with exorbitant cleaning and service fees. Its criminal. Services in most hotels doesn’t justify their cost. For a staycation we stayed at the Marriott Waikoloa Resort, 1 night room and food was $1000 and that was the “kama’aina rate. They offered no room service, there was 1 restaurant that was open for breakfast and the staff was not friendly.
I booked my Outrigger Kaanapali hotel for August 2024 in November of 2023. My upgraded room was $369 a night. I went to the website the other day and checked prices again for my same dates and the rooms are now $517 a night! I couldn’t believe it! I’m feeling grateful for the price I got and it may be my last Hawaiian vacation. We usually go every other year, but I think this will be it.
Mahalo.
The more i read it’s apparent that the real reason to shut down STR is they are competition. How could anyone afford a hotel plus eating out etc? And No ….I work too hard for my money to be able to justify those rates. I can say that owners are not making 4 to 5 times what renters pay…but the hotels are doing just fine….nightly plus plus plus!
The Greed always creates the Need! Nothing else needs to be said.
150 years my extended family has lived in Hawaii. One by one we have moved to the mainland for work. Now we can’t afford to return to vacation where we were born and raised.
Yes Carol, same here. I am 4th generation and had to leave. I can’t always stay with ohana as there are multiple families living together because of housing issues. We rent STR so that we can have them over, a hotel would not work for us and we can’t afford the hotel prices! If they prohibit STR’S we might have to bring tents and camp!
Well.. hopefully you will be able to camp on Kaanapali beach, I am sure it will end up like LA within 2 years!
Sandi, What has Hawaii or the local residents done to you, to cause you to make such a comment? Carol S. and Rory R. are born and raised locals that were Forced to leave their beautiful home because too many people wanted their Hawaiian dream vacation Every Year or more! And the government and big business were all too happy to oblige. That is ultimately why they had no choice but to leave, only to long for their beloved home and be further saddened because they can’t even afford to visit anymore. We don’t want this to happen to locals who have been fortunate enough to still stay.
I’m sorry to say that the “Aloha Spirit” left Hawaii some time ago. It has become clear that Hawaii does not want visitors/tourists. And I’m not talking about just the “ugly” ones that do not respect Paradise. Hawaii has (or “had”) been my favorite destination since 1970 and I even moved and lived there for several years in the early 80’s. Even then, it was known that the Hawaiians did not want us “haoles”, but our money was very welcome.
It is so sad because Hawaii was my place of refuge and peace, but no longer. And, certainly with the current pricing and attitudes, I won’t be returning…too bad, because I was definitely one of the ones that appreciated and respected the culture and heritage of The Islands.
Ditto Here!. I did exactly as you did in 71…
..And those that are hell bent on visiting in this climate will still fork out there tipping dollars to those that don’t appreciate them, and continually state they are unwelcome…..I Have Listened!
Average nightly Hawaii hotel rates up to $1,140, plus taxes and fees…
And here I thought the politicians in Hawaii cared about wealth inequality and the huge income gap?
Guess Not!
LOL that’s why our government is fighting to cut back on short term rentals as well because they care so much about it! What you have to understand is this isn’t just about the residents here, even visitors don’t want to go places because it’s too crowded everywhere. This appeals to both.
Renting timeshare weeks has allowed us to take our family to Kona and Kauai. I’m sure those costs will be increasing as well. We would never pay $350+ per night for a postage stamp sized room when a resort condo can be found for half that cost. Feeling sad for the residents of Hawaii as they are sure to be affected when these high prices begin to affect their livelihood.
Oh trust me many of our residents are probably celebrating right now, even if many do it for the money they still resent the overcrowding that tourism has created here and will be relieved to see less people here, but visitors will be too because we’ve seen some comments even from them about how crowded it has become around here.
We were in Waikoloa for 3 weeks just after Thanksgiving. We were actually shocked at how few people were there. We could actually get a table at a restaurant without having to have a reservation. the only place that was crowded was the Kona Costco but nowhere as crowded as years past. We’ve been to Hawaii a dozen times in the last 10 years and this past trip had been the least crowded.
Kudos to BOH editors for reporting and following up on this critical issue. We have found annual maintenance timeshare condo fees now nearly double per ownership week since 2019 on Kauai. Supply chain, inflation costs, etc. are all a factor. A Hawaiian vacation is clearly now beyond reach for a majority of Americans. I’m hearing that hotels know that they can solve staffing shortage issues by raising their rates and running lower occupancy percentages and still make more money than pre pandemic. BOH editors, what do you think???
This cannot be sustainable long-term for Hawaii’s economy.
Aloha.
Hi Daryl.
Yes, we’ve heard repeatedly that hotels have figured out how to make more money off fewer guests.
Aloha.
Mahalo for your detailed figures, BOH. I think it’s also important to look at the stability of the intertwined hotel and airline industries. As hotel prices skyrocket, airfares are still very low, and I imagine airlines serving the islands are taking financial hits (even beyond Alaska and UAL’s Max-9 troubles). We were able to book a return flight from Maui on another airline 36 hours before takeoff for _cheap_, after our Alaska flight was cancelled. Fewer passengers will lead to fewer flights, affecting travelers from the mainland, overseas, and the islands. Such a big imbalance will surely come with unintended consequences.
Your governing bodies are nuts. We have been going to the Big Island twice a year for 20 years. Spend 4k at a time. No more. Governor Green and his ilk have alienated a lot of the people that keep Hawaii going.
Been going to Hawaii for 50 years we tent camped on kaui and maui we had no money. We took our 4 kids every 4 years. Cost lots always worth it. Retired now. Last year Maui a decent but old condo cost 10k for the 2 of us for 2 weeks plus airfare. We are going somewhere else this year. It is about what the market will pay. When people cant afford they will stop coming. But if you are hawaii resident your stuck with unaffordable housing. That a national problem too.
I have a wonderful idea. Everyone in Hawaii (except those who own vacation properties) looks to be against vacation rentals. Outlawing them in the hope that it will create more housing for the local population. Why not just house them in all of the soon-to-be empty hotel rooms at all of these overpriced resorts?
Airbnb is still illegal here in Hawaii anyway anywhere outside resort areas. We hear good news that they’re working on cutting back on short term rentals permanently which is such a relief, the hotels are meant for visitors not peoples’ homes.
Thank the rates are high now? What if Green manages to get his fantasy of shutting down all vacation rentals.
This article re Bill 121 is five days old, but was reprinted today at the bottom of the front page of the GIN (a newspaper so thin, it only has a front page). Originally ran in Hawaii Herald Tribune:
hawaiitribune-herald.com/2024/01/21/hawaii-news/bill-casts-spotlight-on-short-term-rentals/
The county indicates that there will be 6 opportunities for owners and others to express their concerns. After the first meeting, it seems quite obvious that the concerns raised by the pro vacation rental contingent are going to be ignored
We’ve been visiting Hawaii annually for over 20 years. We stopped going to Maui 5 years ago because of the crowds and chose Kauai and the Big Island as alternatives. This year we’re returning to Maui to support the local people and businesses struggling as a result of the fire. It took me days of searching to find an affordable, clean condo. Don’t know how much longer we’ll choose to pay the crazy cost!
This is Great news!! Capitalism and the law of supply and demand wins again! If I were these hotels, I would do the same thing and continue to charge as Much as the market will bear! And you know what the dirty little secret is? Anyone who is complaining about how high the prices are would do the exact same thing if they owned the hotels. No one is running a charity here. It’s all for profit and that’s the way it should be with something like this. So, good for them! This news made my day!!
“Greed is good”
Said in the movie Wallstreet by Gordon Gekko
I don’t agree. This isn’t greed. This is simply the market and capitalism playing out as it should. The Only way to balance out the overcrowding and over-tourism on these beautiful islands so that they are not ruined (and they are being ruined) is to raise, raise, RAISE those prices! This is a good thing! No One is having a good time under the current arrangement. Residents and tourists alike have a lower quality of life and vacation experience because there are simply Too Many People coming here. And you can’t simply ban people from going anywhere they wish in the U.S.A. And it’s not like raising prices on something that everyone wants is something new. It happens all over the world, so why start complaining now?
Hoping visitors start talking with their pocket books and book their vacations elsewhere. This is a sad situation on how greedy the state of Hawaii has become. Obviously tourists are not welcome and Aloha come with a
Price
I don’t think Pre-COVID hotel prices are a valid comparison point. You can’t compare the cost of buying a house, a car or anything else pre to post COVID. The economy in 2019 was vastly different than post-COVID across the board. That said, I think taxes & fees ( and proposed fees) are excessive.
Hi Tom.
While we concur, there’s no other point of comparison. 2022 was an entirely different beast. Now that we’re in 2024, we’ll have 2023 with which to compare.
Aloha.
Aloha Guys,
Great article! We always book with CostcoTravel.com unless we find something through Marriott Bonvoy. There are some amazing deals on CostcoTravel right now for Maui (Ritz Carlton Kapalua and Hotel Wailea) 🙂 and the Big Island (Westin Hapuna and the Mauna Kea) :). Book early and book airfare separately.
Mahalo for having the best travel news site in Hawaii! 🙂
Hi Cheri.
Thanks. We tried Costco Travel and for our February dates, nothing worked out there either.
Aloha.
I guess Hawaii will get what they are wanting – just wealthy tourists. That leaves me to vacation elsewhere.
Wow! I guess senior citizens and middle and lower class citizens may never get to visit Hawaii amid soaring hotel prices. So unfair that the rich and elite are only ones able to afford it. I guess I won’t be able to share Hawaii with my grandchildren.
Concerned,
Senior Citizen
It’s sad that these hotels have to gouge people so much. We moved to the BI almost 6 years ago and at the time we would easily get rooms for under $100 at nice hotels, then we got AirBnB’s when we were needing to be more rural and not right in Kona or Hilo. Now both the hotels and the AirBnB cost are outrageous. Airbnb’s are really bad with exorbitant cleaning and service fees. Its criminal. Services in most hotels doesn’t justify their cost. For a staycation we stayed at the Marriott Waikoloa Resort, 1 night room and food was $1000 and that was the “kama’aina rate. They offered no room service, there was 1 restaurant that was open for breakfast and the staff was not friendly.
I booked my Outrigger Kaanapali hotel for August 2024 in November of 2023. My upgraded room was $369 a night. I went to the website the other day and checked prices again for my same dates and the rooms are now $517 a night! I couldn’t believe it! I’m feeling grateful for the price I got and it may be my last Hawaiian vacation. We usually go every other year, but I think this will be it.
Mahalo.
osta Rica looks most promising.