Cheaper Place to Go

For business people on the road in 1986, Los Angeles was the 12th most expensive city in the nation to visit, according to a survey by the accounting and consulting firm Laventhol & Horwath. One day and night--a hotel room, three meals and a rental car--cost an average of $180.33, down 4.5% from 1985, when executives traveling to Los Angeles paid $188.74 per diem.

New York claimed the dubious title as the most expensive destination for corporate visitors at $270.34 per day. The average cost for the 100 cities analyzed by the firm was $155.50.

Saul F. Leonard, a partner of Leisure Time Industries, a division of L&H;, said the survey results show that so many new hotels were built here last year, especially in the airport area, that prices were soft in that particular market.

“In Los Angeles . . . you had an overbuilding. It’s very simple--the law of supply and demand. . . . (Hotels) have to keep rates low to remain competitive,” Leonard said.

The study “also showed that most of the hotels opening were lower-priced. I don’t know of any luxury hotels that opened last year,” he said. The daily rate for lodging in Los Angeles last year averaged $74.89; the 1985 survey calculated rates to be $79.10.

Rental car prices were also down to $46 a day in 1986 from $52 in 1985, an 11.5% decrease.

The average price for three meals, Leonard said, remained fairly stable, rising 3.1% to $59.44 from $57.64.

“What we’re finding is . . . a slowdown in the increase of travel costs because of the decline of inflation and excess supply (in all three areas),” Leonard said.

Other Southern California cities that ranked in the pricey list were: Anaheim, the 11th-costliest city at $180.49 a day, and San Diego, 61st at $145.52.