Shocking reason why NYC hotel rooms have gotten so expensive - with average room now costing $300 a night

As families worldwide plan their summer vacations, the average hotel room in New York City is now over $300 a night, because so many of them have had to take up business as shelters for migrants. 

With about 135 of the city's nearly 700 hotels being used as part of the shelter program, the average day rate for a hotel in the Big Apple rose eight percent from $277.92 in 2022 to $301.61 in 2023 as the supply of rooms slumps.

That means a large family plotting their summer vacation in the city could be spending in the thousands just for somewhere to stay.  

In the first three months of each year, hotel rates typically drop but in the first quarter of 2024, the average room went for $230.79 a night, a rise from $216.38 for the same period last year. 

It comes New York City stepped up its efforts to push migrants out of its overwhelmed shelters Wednesday as it began enforcing a new rule that limits some adult asylum-seekers to a month in the system before they have to find a bed on their own.

As families worldwide plan their summer vacations, the average hotel room in New York City is now over $300 a night, because so many of them - like The Row NYC Hotel at Times Square - have had to take up business as shelters for migrants

Migrants without young children must now move out of the hotels, tent complexes and other shelter facilities run by the city and find other housing after 30 days - or 60 days for those aged 18-23 - unless they provide proof of 'extenuating circumstances' and are granted an exemption.

According to the New York Times, the hotels participating in the program get $185 per night per room from the city.

The city has lost over 16,000 hotel rooms over the program to tourists, with just 121,677 remaining. That number is already 2,812 fewer than how many there were before the pandemic. 

Keeping hotel rooms scarce, none of the hotels who applied to the program - like the four-star Row NYC Hotel in Times Square or the Roosevelt near Grand Central - have returned to how they did business before the crisis. 

Because of that, four-star hotels like citizenM in Times Square are charging at least $389 a night for a room, according to Hotels.com.

At least 22 hotels are in Midtown Manhattan, which includes Times Square, the Grand Central Terminal and the Empire State Building. 

A three-star joint like Staypineapple is still going for no lower than $308 per night per room. 

The huge price hikes will hit average income families finding that a mid-range hotel room now costs close to what a luxury stay would have cost pre-crisis.  

'I really believe it's enabled two-, two-and-a-half-star hotels to be a little more emboldened, to take advantage of the situation and charge prices that perhaps they wouldn't otherwise be able to,' said Sean Hennessey, a hotel industry adviser and clinical associate professor at New York University. 

Further increasing demand for hotels is a city-wide ban on short-term Airbnb rentals, with most of those properties now only available for stays of 30 days or more, which rules out almost all tourist bookings.  

Four-star hotels like citizenM in Times Square are charging at least $389 a night for a room

A three-star joint like Staypineapple is still going for no lower than $308 per night per room

Mayor Eric Adams, on the other hand, sees it differently, saying that tourism interest in the city has increased prices in a statement.

'The return of tourists to New York City is reflected at hotels as well, where demand is up,' the statement said. 

'New York City is safer, cleaner and, as the numbers show, continues to be one of the most popular destinations in the United States.' 

As of late Wednesday, 192 migrants had applied for an extension after hitting their limit, and 118 had been approved, Mayor Eric Adams´ office said. Thousands more are expected to receive eviction notices in the coming months.

The new restrictions came after Adams' administration in March succeeded in altering the city´s unique ' right to shelter ' rule requiring it to provide temporary housing for every homeless person who asks for it.

Before the new rule came into effect, adult migrants without children were still limited to 30 days in a shelter, but they were able to immediately reapply for a new bed with no questions asked.

The city also restricts migrant families with young children to 60-day stays, but they aren´t impacted by the new rule and can still reapply without providing any justification.

Still, an audit found that the rollout was 'haphazard,' over the past six months

Mayor Eric Adams, on the other hand, sees it differently, saying that tourism interest in the city has increased prices in a statement

Migrant families leave for a walk to school in front of the Row Hotel that serves as migrant shelter

Immigrant rights and homeless advocates say they´re closely monitoring the eviction process, which impacts some 15,000 migrant adults. The city shelter system currently houses about 65,000 migrants, but many of those are families with kids.

Adams, a Democrat, on Tuesday pushed back at critics who have called the city´s increasingly restrictive migrant shelter rules inhumane and haphazardly rolled out, saying the city simply can´t keep housing migrants indefinitely. 

New York City has provided temporary housing to nearly 200,000 migrants since the spring of 2022, with more than a thousand new arrivals coming to the city each week, he noted.

'People said it´s inhumane to put people out during the wintertime, so now they say it´s inhumane to do it in the summertime,' Adams said. 'There´s no good time. There's no good time.'

The move comes as Denver, another city that´s seen an influx of migrants, embarks on an ambitious migrant support program that includes six-month apartment stays and intensive job preparation for those who can´t yet legally work. 

Meanwhile Chicago has imposed 60-day shelter limits on adult migrants with no option for renewal, and Massachusetts has capped stays for families to nine months, starting in June.

Adams had asked a court in October to suspend the 'right to shelter' requirement entirely, but the move was opposed by immigrant rights and homeless advocacy groups. In March, they settled, with an agreement that set the new rules for migrants.

The agreement still allows for city officials to grant extensions on shelter stays on a case-by-case basis.

New York City has provided temporary housing to nearly 200,000 migrants since the spring of 2022, with more than a thousand new arrivals coming to the city each week, he noted

Keeping hotel rooms scarce, none of the hotels who applied to the program - like the four-star Row NYC Hotel in Times Square or the Roosevelt near Grand Central (pictured) - have returned to how they did business before the crisis 

City officials say migrants need to show they´re making 'significant efforts to resettle,' such as applying for work authorization or asylum, or searching for a job or an apartment.

Migrants can also get an extension if they can prove they have plans to move out of the city within 30 days, have an upcoming immigration-related hearing or have a serious medical procedure or are recovering from one.

Migrants between the ages of 18 and 20 years old can also get extensions if they´re enrolled full-time in high school.

New York City appears to be bracing for a 'summer surge' of migrants as some asylum seekers have reportedly been abruptly transferred from their shelters. 

The Department of Homeless Services handed out notices to migrant families staying at shelters in Brooklyn on Tuesday, warning them they had 24 to 48 hours to relocate.

Win, the Big Apple's largest provider of family shelter, said they started receiving a list from the city of clients who will be transferred into hotels for migrants nearly two weeks ago.