Rooms for F1 week grow more expensive

AUSTIN (KXAN) - There is still a possibility out-of-towners can find rooms in Austin for November’s F1 weekend.

But it will cost them.

“They are willing to pay between $3,000 and $4,000 a night,” said David Buttross, who is renting out his four-bedroom home during the entire race week.

There are plenty of Internet ads posted from people willing to rent their rooms out to race fans, but very few hotels from which to choose.

A search on Travelocity.com returned only a few vacancies for the Nov. 16 to Nov. 18 weekend. Most of them were at least $500 and are in outlying areas near Austin

Allandale Hotel Manager Bill Hale says Internet travel sites and the hotel industry keep a good gauge on what their rooms are worth.

“They all have their fingers on the pulse of how many rooms are available. If there are rooms available, it brings the price down a little bit," Hale said.

Many hotels say they reserved rooms to see just how high the market price went before they make them available to customers looking for last-minute hospitality.