I'm trying to book a room last couple times the cheapest rooms start from $145 and thats only a couple, the rest is going up to $180 & up......
Sorry Moab, you are the best town in Utah but I'm not paying that price. Last time we stayed in Monticello for $68 and travel through UT 191 is fabulous.
Not the I need them assholes gauging me (have an Airstream and tent). I don't get it, no place in southern Utah is even close.
Anyone has any ideas about this?

I would make a strong guess that there is a university there (maybe?) and graduation is going on.

Same with a mid-sized town here in Texas: I've gotten cheap Motel 6 rooms there for $35 and this weekend it's up to $160 AND no availability.

OK, I'm bored and googled it....apparently I'm wrong, lol. Maybe it's just that they can charge this much _because_ they are out of the way and a nice(?) town?

Just a guess, but isn't Moab near a national park?

Also, rates go up as the beginning of summer vacation nears.

I just read somewhere that Moab is the #1 mountain biking destination in the US. People will pay anything to stay there.

My son owns land in Moab. He says Moab is on high right now. He has been keeping and camping there for years. It has gone from an out of the way outdoor adventure spot to the playground of the upwardly mobile crowd.

I spent more weekends in Moab than I can recount. The prices look atrocious. Hotels can make their money without my contribution for sure.
It's not a bad thing though, it might discourage people visiting Moab, which I'm all for it.

We usually go to Moab a few weeks into September .The hotel prices are less and also fewer crowds.The weather is not so hot but still nice and warm .I would avoid Moab during June July and August and for sure any holiday weekend .Wed don't really care what kind of a hotel as long as it's basically clean because we only use it to sleep and shower. rest of the time is biking, rafting and eating and drinking

I live in the SF Bay Area and, earlier this year, our local TV market was bombarded with "Discover Moab" commercials for a good six to eight weeks. And these commercials were not commercials for Utah in general, but for MOAB specifically. I do not know who bank rolled this campaign, but perhaps it worked??!!

Moab's peak season starts mid April and runs to early / mid September. They have a limited number of rooms relative to the tourism so that price is not unusual. I think we paid about 120/night when we went there last Thanksgiving and considered it a pretty good deal for a mid-range hotel. 2 National Parks, a global tourism destination, and no good options outside of the small town means outsized pricing.

That being said, I'll pay for your hotel if I can borrow the Airstream ;)

Supply and demand. Moab is a hot market. Simple as that.
Nothing unusual.
Check Vegas hotels on a Friday-Saturday compared to Sunday-Thursday. And don't even think about a weekend with a major fight or event in town. Outrageous how they take advantage of the situation.

Not just that, but driving to Vegas from the LA area is bad on a Friday, and just as bad on a Sunday. When I make that drive, I leave no later in the week than Thursday, and drive back on Monday unless it's a holiday weekend. Flying on a holiday weekend is also bad, as the prices go way up then.

Moab's been discovered. It's a cool place to be, dudes and dudettes.

I lived there for over 15 years and recently moved because of the mayhem. It's beyond nuts. A lot of locals are disgusted and want to leave. I have a friend who just sold a property there for over a half mil and it's a pile of junk. It went on the market and she had 5 good offers a few days later.

The locals are having to pay for a new sewer plant because the current one is over capacity. Their bills are going up 20%. The town suffers gridlock on busy days, and they had to put a stoplight at Arches because of all the traffic. The grocery store looks like it's been stripped by army ants most of the time. The busy season used to start in mid to late April but is now in early March and even into the winter season. I still get my mail there (never anything important), but I hate going there so much I only check it every few months and will soon shut it down. My advice is to just stay away. It's like Disneyland now. Very sad.

I lived there from 1990 to 94. Great place but I am glad I left. Lots of pressure from tourism.

You were there at a good time - I was there then, too, but moved back to Colorado, then returned later. It was nice and peaceful and you actually buy a house for under 100k.

During peak season, spring and fall, even the motel 6 is 140. You have to book a year in advance to get any sort of deal during peak season.

I've stayed in Green River when the prices in Moab were too high. It's an hour away from Moab, but to save 150 a night...

Don't stay the the moab motel 6. the rooms are tiny closets.

They are really busy during the summer. I haven't lived there for around 10 years but I doubt it has changed to be less busy. There are international visitors there all summer. Because there are several national parks and gorgeous views within 30ish miles the rates are ridiculous during the summer. Streets, hotels and inns are packed on certain weekends like the various cycling festival weekends, Easter weekend(jeep safari), Iron man, and others. Sometimes you need to book years in advance.

I should also mention that when I lived there there was someone (J J Wang if I remember right) that owned a bunch of the hotels and inns in town. This might have something to do with the prices but I believe that it has mostly to do with high demand during peak tourist season.

If you stay in a hotel in MOAB take a blacklight and check the place out.
I had to shower just after looking at nasty rooms