Holidaymakers cash in on some of the lowest hotel room rates for five years.

According to the latest Hotel Price Index (HPI) from Hotels.com, hotel prices around the world have fallen to their lowest level for five years in the first six months of the year, compared to 2008.

The HPI tracks the real prices paid per hotel room, rather than the advertised rate, for 78,000 hotels across 13,000 locations around the world.

In what many commentators have dubbed the “year of the staycation”, UK holidaymakers opting to stay in this country have enjoyed some of the lowest average price hotel rooms in the world. In Bournemouth prices fell 14% to an average of £66, in Southampton they fell by an extraordinary 33% to £57 on average.

Rome and Paris were the only major European capitals to experience rises in the first half of the year, with an increase on average of 2% to £110 and £109.

Tel Aviv, Istanbul and Abu Dhabi were among the only other major cities to buck the downward trend, as prices rose 20%, 15% and 15% respectively. Rio de Janeiro experienced the biggest average rise, with visitors paying, on average, 35% more in 2009, than 2008.

David Roche, President of Hotels.com Worldwide, says: “Despite the relative weakness of Sterling to the Euro and the Dollar, the HPI has shown that Britons can still enjoy some tremendous bargains abroad.

“Hotel rates are down year on year across most destinations in Europe, and typically expensive places such as New York and Moscow have never been more affordable.”