Want to know where to find the most affordable hotels in America? How about where hotel rates have dropped the most?

Here’s what the industry numbers are telling us: the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index tracks hotel rates around the world, based on the actual prices paid, not the advertised rates.

In the first half of the year, when the effects of the recession first hit, the average price of a hotel room in the US dropped by a whopping 17 percent.

The biggest drops in prices were in New York and Las Vegas, where hotel rates were 30 percent lower than the same time last year.

And smart travelers know that this is the time to pounce on those good deals.

An average New York hotel room rate used to be $281, and now it’s $196; an average Las Vegas hotel rate used to be $116 and is now $82—and since many Vegas hotels are practically ghost towns, you can bet they’ll go even lower.

As for the cities with the most affordable hotels overall, check out Albuquerque, New Mexico; Reno, Nevada; and… Boise, Idaho.

Some of the most expensive hotels can be found in Washington, DC; Boston, Massachusetts; and Honolulu.

But even in these cities prices have gone down as much 16 percent, so chances are you still have a good opportunity to negotiate.

Learn more in our Budget Travel category.

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