re: How did Gulf Shores/Orange Beach get so pricy?

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I stayed at a condo in Gulf Shores in June of 2020 for $300 a night. That same unit is $550 a night in June this year. A nearly 100% increase.

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Bruh, that was peak Covid time....that price was likely cheap.

As said, they are out of control because demand is through the roof and real estate and the cost of ownership has increased dramatically. I'd expect next year prices to level out and maybe even decrease slightly.

The hurricane that hit the area 2-3 years ago really damaged a lot of the area. The next season I’d say capacity at most condos was 50-70% due to renovations being done. Then Covid hit and people quit traveling. So every company began charging more to recoup losses.

Our condo in peak summer used to rent for about $1500 for 4 nights including taxes and fees. Then it went up to $1800. Last summer it was $2100. This summer it’s $2500. And people keep paying it.

If you notice all hotels are more in major cities. Just recently I saw prices in Nashville and New Orleans for Marriott hotels were $400+ a night. Those same hotels used to always be $170-250 a night regularly.

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That’s nuts. I just booked flights for 2 and 8 nights in 4 star hotels for a London/paris trip that only came out to 3200$

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Yep. We priced a 5 day trip to Punta Cana this fall last night and it’s considerably cheaper than a week on the Gulf Coast. We are hesitant to book though with the uncertainty with Covid and international restrictions.

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That’s nuts. I just booked flights for 2 and 8 nights in 4 star hotels for a London/paris trip that only came out to 3200$

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When? Not this summmer....Flights are expensive as frick to Europe this summer in June and July. $1000+. You didn't book 8 nights at a London or Paris 4 star hotel for $1200 total, That's $150/ night. Certainly not anything remotely close to downtown. Now maybe its a 4 star on trip advisor or something, but its not a true 4 star hotel. Hell I doubt you could get a 2 star hotel for mid summer for that.

Come on guys, be honest with some of this BS.

If you are talking about in the winter or off season, then guess what....Gulf Shores is a lot cheaper also.

ETA: Sorry didn't mean to be as dickish. Given that, yes the gulf coast prices are high due to Covid. Prices are still high until the market proves they need to come down. Which they will start to come down quite a bit I'd expect over the next 6 months or so.

Damn, you may want to remove the giant dick from your arse.

As to the OP, seems like everything is higher, its just the Biden economy.

Supply and demand. After Covid and Hurricane Sally people started to raise praises and people are paying them so they keep raising prices. Also, beach houses are more expensive and people are charging more. My home value went up 46% and taxes matched it in Baldwin County this year. I’m 10 miles North of the Beach. Insurance is also going insane much like Louisiana and Florida. But, the beaches and Condos are still at max capacity. If you don’t pay it, someone else will.

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I priced it out and we wanted to stay at the Phoenix II and it was roughly $4400 with taxes and fees for end of July going into August. I just priced an all inclusive in Cancun with flights for 4 and it's just under $3500.

I haven't stayed at a beach condo since covid, is it just spillover from that causing inflated prices where demand just keeps going higher?

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As a person who lives within 3.5 hours of drive time to the Panhandle and Alabama beaches, we don't bother with ever going there. 4 hour flight to Aruba and even closer to other Caribbean destinations. Price is almost the same, less crowded beach, less crowded restaurants, better scenery, much better food, and much better class of people. But hey, whatever floats your boat.

Meh, we live 4hrs from Perdido Key. Have a vacation home there (don’t rent it) but it’s really 4 hrs. A 4hr flight is getting there 1-2 hours early, I’m an hour from the airport then dealing with customs once I’m there. It’s an entire day of travel. I’ve been to Cabo, Cancun, Costa Rica, St Maarten, the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, and San Juan some more than once. God forbid you have one of those 1 hr bus/van rides to the resort after you land.

Orange Beach/Gulf Shores is super easy to get to for most of the southeast. You’re there in 1/2 day drive and it’s a fun/happy place to be. I grew up doing it and made some great memories. I prefer a little more quiet so we bought in Perdido Key and don’t visit OBA/GS in-season while we’re down there due to the crowds. But the class of people can be shite (or great) anywheres. You might feel ‘fancy’ cause your in Aruba but I’ve been around total trash in some fancy places down there.

Just like everything else, prices are high in OBA/GS and they’re still booked up. As long as there booking up prices won’t come down. But for the avg family with a couple kids OBA/GS can be a great vacation, making great memories.

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The main difference is the vaccination requirement.

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I'd be curious to see what percentage of this summer's condo renters, are not vaccinated?

This isn't mean to be political. I do think there is something to your post... You may have people from southern states (the ones that are a day's drive away from the beach as well as from cruise ports) who maybe in the past would take a cruise / travel internationally, that are instead this year, because they are not vaxxed, deciding to hit the gulf coast beaches.