Stay Cost Brain

Stay Cost Brain tells you what a stay really costs on top of the room price: the tourist, city or hotel tax, taken from each tax authority's own pages, regulations or official gazette, with the source and the date it was checked.

Ask about a place or town and your dates, and it works the tax out night by night:

• every tax that applies, with state, regional and city parts shown separately (Barcelona, Paris, New York);
• the rate for the type of stay and star rating, or the range when that isn't known;
• seasons, night caps and long-stay reductions;
• children's exemptions and reductions;
• taxes set as a percentage of the room price or by price band (Amsterdam, Tokyo, Kyoto, New York), worked out from the room price you give;
• announced changes that will be in force on your dates.

It covers 71 researched places in 19 countries, including Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, the Netherlands, the UK, Japan and 31 US destinations, and says so plainly when a town hasn't been researched yet. It can also give a link to live hotel and rental prices for the dates and guests, where the person books themselves.

The figures are the published rates, not quotes: the accommodation charges what is in force on the night. Read-only, no account, nothing personal requested. Stay Cost Brain may earn a commission on bookings made through its links; the traveller pays the same price.