traveling to UK next summer: Cambridge Duxford area and flight to Edinburgh and Celtic Festival on Isle of Lewis. Have seen rooms set at a per room rate and others per person. With the lousy exchange rate, the per-person route is pretty steep. Is there a trend toward a per-room rate vs. a per-person rate and having to make their room rates more exchange-rate friendly? Or is this just wishful thinking/hallucinations on my part? Boy the dollar is pretty lame against most currencies...even Canada is catching up!

i don't understand your question about 'exchange rate friendly'. some hotels/b&bs charge by the room and some per person. i do not notice any trends one way or the other. the total turns out more or less the same anyway. the vast majority of decent (but not top) b&bs are priced at £60-70 per room, per night. the same type of place would be quoted as £35 ppn (per person, per night). special events and seaside rooms in the summer are exceptions to this.

i have not noticed any different pricing due to the decline of the US dollar, but since i'm in the UK, i would not be aware of any special offers aimed at americans. anyway, average local businesses would not change their pricing for this reason. only businesses aimed at americans (eg american focused tour companies) would even consider doing this.

Can't imagine that they'd be making room rates more exchange rate friendly, after all they have to pay UK bills not US or CDN ones.

I wonder if by summer you mean August which for Edinburgh means paying through the nose?

Can you give some examples?

Rate per room is a fairly new concept in the UK, at least as far as the advertised prices were concerned. Rate per person was much more common, though in the small print there was usually a hefty "single occupancy supplement" which meant a room for one was nearly as much as a room for two.
In the last ten years or so there's been a big increase in no-frills hotels aimed at people (and families) who want a bed for the night and not much more. These often charge for a room with a big bed for mum and dad and smaller beds for one or two children, all in the same room. I don't know if it's the impact of these places, or if the UK is moving to a more European way of doing things, but I've noticed that more hotels and B&Bs are quoting a rate per room now. I don't think there's any firm rule about which is better value, it partly depends on how many of your fellow travellers you want to share a room with.

How can it be an unusual concept for the UK to price rates per room, rather than per person. That's the only thing that makes a lot of sense. Advertising for deals may quote per person because it makes it look cheaper. I have been traveling to the UK for about 15-20 years and have always been quoted rates per room in hotels, not per person. B&Bs may do something different, but it isn't a foreign concept to British hotels that you are actually paying for a room, it's not a rooming house or hostel or something.

I've been going to and traveling within the UK at least annually for about 18 years now. I can't recall EVER being quoted a price for a hotel per person. It has always been per room. But then I've never stayed in a B&B if that's what you are referring to.

Craigellachie is one hundred per cent correct. It may that this stuff is marketed differntly into the States or in US based chains; but it is certainly true that a room rate is becoming more common.

MANY hotels and B&Bs are pp. I'm pretty amazed NeoPatrick has never experienced that w/ all the times you've been there. Now in big city hotels - it is most often per room.

But in smaller places it is pretty much 50/50 - some per room, some per person double occupancy.

As others have noted, it is the smaller properties (family owned, out of the way types) that will charge per person. However, whether it is per person or per room is irrelevant as it's the total amount that is important.

As I said, I've never stayed in B&B's. I guess I have seen per person rates when a place is half pension -- or including meals at all, but I avoid that like the plague, so again I haven't run into it.