Hotel prices up, up, up -- how are your visitors faring?

If you keep an eye on the news, you may have seen this article via Japan Times that mentioned hotel prices here are at their highest prices in 30 years. When we have international visitors, they typically stay at hotels -- our house only has a couple of climate controlled rooms, so it doesn't make guest stays all that easy. 

The article noted that the average daily hotel rate for March was about ¥20,986 ($136 US dollars), which was the highest rate since August 1997! 

Hotel rates are up, but the yen is down. Pic Credit: Mark D/CC By NC 2.0

I don't think it's all that bad though, given that the yen rate is so low compared to a lot of currencies at the moment. Visitors are definitely getting a lot more mileage from their money, so perhaps it all levels out in the end!

Have you had family or friends come to Japan recently? Do they typically stay with you, or at hotels or other accommodation spots?