NEW ORLEANS, April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Music fans who are planning a last-minute visit to New Orleans for this year's Jazz and Heritage Fest are in for a surprise at the hotel check-in desk. Although rooms are still available for both the April 27–29 and May 3–6 weekends of the festival, they have huge price increases attached to them, a new survey from CheapHotels.org has uncovered. 

On average, hotels in the Big Easy have raised their rates by 79% in comparison to their regular prices, according to the survey. And that's just for starters. Some establishments are gouging festival goers much more. The O'Keefe Plaza Hotel, situated in New Orleans' central business district, outpaces that average by nearly double. There, a room that typically goes for $84 per night is currently listed at $210 during the Jazz and Heritage Fest weekends. That fluctuation represents a 150% price increase.

The Park St. Charles, located in the center of downtown New Orleans, however, walks away with the rate hiker crown. Rooms that are usually priced $79 there have risen to $249 per night late April into early May, representing a 215% elevation in price.

Visitors will find pretty much the same situation all throughout the city center, though. Indeed, the cheapest available double room is posting a $239 per night rate for the first weekend (April 27–29) of the Jazz Fest. The second weekend (May 3–6) will be slightly more wallet-friendly for festival goers with the cheapest available room listed at $210.

Jazz lovers who want to stay inside the historic French Quarter will have to spend even more – close to $300 on both weekends. So does that mean budget travelers have been left high and dry? Not if they're willing to venture out to the city's suburbs. Rooms around the Louis Armstrong International Airport can still be found for $100.

For more information about this survey, visit http://www.cheaphotels.org/press/jazz-fest-2012.html

Press contact: press@cheaphotels.org

SOURCE CheapHotels.org