Homecoming is here at Florida A&M University and it’s causing local hotels to raise their rates.
Friends, alumni and family are having trouble finding hotels with affordable prices for this weekend.
While this week normally brings in a huge boost to Tallahassee’s economy, hotels and airbnb’s are looking to take advantage of this brief time period.
Aaron Soivilien, who was looking to make the homecoming trip, was not too happy with the prices local hotels have for this weekend.
“Coming to Tallahassee for FAMU homecoming was the plan I had in mind but looking at the hotel prices got me second guessing,” Soivilien said. “Hotels that usually are $90 a night for three nights are now hitting $400 or more in total. This is greedy and ridiculous.”
Staying in Tallahassee this weekend is definitely going to cost you. A Friday through Sunday stay during FAMU’s homecoming weekend is ranging between $400 to over a $1,000 total via booking.com, depending on the hotel you choose. If you are coming the week after homecoming the prices are significantly cheaper.
Raymond Gissendaner, the manager at DoubleTree in downtown Tallahassee, says the prices are going to go up greatly during homecoming week.
“The prices for a night stay for any home game during that period is going to go up,” Gissendaner said. “During a regular week you will see the more normal rates but if it’s a homecoming week the prices will increase due to the high demand.”
This has been going on for years during homecoming week but is it OK for hotels to raise prices just for homecoming weekend? Sure enough, a lot of people would say no.
As we get closer and closer to game day, hotels will continue to raise the price.
Florida A&M alum Chase Green isn’t too happy with the prices hotels are offering. Traveling from out of town for homecoming this year is a struggle, Green said.
“I always look forward to FAMU homecoming coming back, seeing old friends and classmates but it’s the hotel prices that make it hard to find a place to stay,” Green said. “I was going to stay in a hotel but the way the prices were looking I’m just going to stay with a friend.”
The high prices even have homecoming travelers staying outside of Tallahassee in areas like Quincy or Monticello. If you are making the trip to Tallahassee for FAMU’s homecoming, make sure you can find an affordable place to stay.