Hotels.com Hotel Price Index released for 2016: Where Australian travellers will find the 100 most affordable hotels in the world

Dec 19 2016

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If you're looking for a bargain priced hotel in Southeast Asia, chances are you'll find it in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

The latest Hotel Price Index, released by travel booking website Hotels.com, draws data from bookings made across the thousands of hotels on their website.

The data revealed that 65 destinations from across the Southeast Asian region were in the top 100 list of the most affordable hotels.

At 48 of these destinations, you'll be able to find a hotel room for less than $100 per night.

Kuala Lumpur, with its huge international airport, is a popular place to stopover en route to Europe. It has many five-star hotels where you can snap up rooms at bargain-basement prices, so it's no surprise to see it topped the list as the cheapest destination for a room. Not everyone went five star; Australians paid an average of $43 a night for a room here, and this is up 18 per cent from 2015.

The old Indonesian town of Solo, where you might base yourself to explore ancient temples, the royal palace or shop for batik, was the second cheapest place for a hotel room, where guests paid an average of $46 a night - a cost which has decreased 29 per cent from 2015.

Over in Bali, in the northern region of Buleleng, costs fell a staggering 62 per cent from $180 for a room per night to $69. This prized, lush region of Bali that rests along its northern shores is a good base to explore the island's spectacular waterfalls of Munduk, Gitgit and Aling-Aling.

Popular destinations such as Thailand and Vietnam were also among the cheapest, with guests paying an average of $63 per night per room in the towns of Udon Thani and Hue - a 25 per cent increase from 2015.

At the other end of the scale, the world's most expensive international destination for hotel rooms was in Bora Bora, French Polynesia, where Australian travellers paid on average a whopping $1123 a night, though this was also down 18 per cent from 2015 when guests paid an average of $1373.

Hawaii might be just over half the price of Bora Bora, but accommodation there does not come cheap either, with rooms costing $705 in the city of Kapolei.

On the southernmost tip of the Bukit Peninsula in Bali, Ungasan was also one of the most expensive, clocking in at $626 per night. Prices have risen here an incredible 211 per cent since 2015. Its high price can probably be attributed to it being a small region, home to only a handful of high-end resorts.

Commenting on the latest HPI data, Katherine Cole, regional director, Australia and New Zealand for Hotels.com, said: "Year after year, south-east Asia dominates the best-value list and it's no wonder due to its proximity for Australian travellers and the fact that money stretches that much further.

"We expect the region will continue to remain at the top of travel bucket lists when it comes to affordability."

Cheapest places for Australians to get a hotel room in 2016, with average price per night:

1. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia $43

2. Solo, Indonesia $46

3. Udon Thani, Thailand $63

4. Hue, Vietnam $63

5. Semarang, Indonesia $64

6. Cagayan De Oro, Philippines $66

7. Makassar, Indonesia $66

8. Turban, Bali $66

9. Yogyakarta, Indonesia $66

10.Da Lat, Vietnam $66