Hotel room prices have completely skyrocketed. What is going on?

I am planning to stay 5 nights in mid January in New York City. I checked prices in many hotels (Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, Holiday Inn) and it’s just crazy. <br><br>Hyatt is charging 600 per night. Holiday inn is charging 800, Hilton is charging 700, Marriott is charging 600, even regular motels are charging 500. <br><br>I thought I was crazy because I was expecting to pay for cheap hotels 200-250. But I’m actually seeing 500-600 for cheap hotels. <br><br>I found a lot of hotels are owned by Hilton, Marriott, etc. but charge less like a holiday inn versus holiday inn itself. So this got me thinking that it’s an issue with inventory for hotels. But hotels are not all full. I see tons of availability. Also I searched prices for other cities and this seems to bee a New York issue. <br><br>I also thought that it was a supply and demand issue, but hotels are not all full. So I’m wondering what is going on. Either prices have never been like this OR demand is so high that the prices are for the most expensive hotels and not cheap budgets. <br><br>If you live in New York state, is it really that expensive to stay at a hotel? I’m wondering if the prices will decrease in the future.