Carnival Pricing: Part 1

Hello my fellow Carnival Lovers, Fayola here.

One of the first questions I get when on a consult with a prospective client (if not the first question) is inevitably “So how much does this cost?”. 

 Today I decided to give a little insight into what Carnival pricing can look like by starting a series highlighting the items most people need to have a great Carnival experience.  Let’s talk accommodation.

Accommodation

In the grand scheme of things Trinidad and Tobago is a small twin-island republic whose population can increase by up to 200% during the peak Carnival period. What does that mean? That means there are lot people who need a place to stay, driving up demand, causing a major price inflation.

 Within the last 5-10 years though, there has been an increase in guesthouses and boutique hotels and of course, since the introduction of AirBnB, a lot more home and villa style accommodation has become available. These introductions have massively increased the budget range for accommodation, giving you the option to choose what you are willing to pay.

For those people who just need a place to leave their luggage and don’t even require a bed frame, you can get a room with a mattress on the floor for about $200 USD a night. I know, but people are paying it so it keeps being offered 🤷🏽‍♀️. For those who want a nice place to lay their head but aren’t very picky, a decent guesthouse can run you anywhere from $300 - $500 USD a night (double occupancy) depending on the amenities they provide and of course the LOCATION. The closer you are to the main parade route, the more money you are going to pay. And that goes for any accommodation type. For those who want a hotel experience without breaking the bank, most boutique hotels provide you with breakfast and WIFI and will start around $400 USD a night. This can increase quite a bit depending on the type of room you want or if you require any extra amenities.

 Then we have the people who will only stay in chain hotels they know and trust. You know, the Hiltons, HYATTs, Marriotts etc. These people are in for a cool $1200 USD a night for a standard double occupancy room. It will, of course, have all the amenities you expect from a ‘branded’ hotel and some are in genuinely beautiful locations. This will, however, take a big chomp out of most people’s budgets, leaving less money available for the fun parts. Despite the high prices, these hotels sell out VERY QUICKLY and require almost a full year of pre-meditation for you to get your spot sorted.

In each of these cases you will want to have a person on the ground keeping in touch with your desired accommodation choice and advocating on your behalf. That’s where we come in. We do site visits and booking confirmations to make sure that you are indeed getting what you paid for. Not to mention our access to exclusive locally rented apartments and villas that will never reach the internet. What can I say, we’re good at our jobs 😉

 If you think these posts are a good idea, have any topics you want me to address or just want to tell me how great you think this blog post is 😊  leave a comment below!

Until next time….