250 Percent Markup on Kentucky Derby Hotels

April 22, 2014— -- Big hats. Big race. Even bigger hotel prices.

That's according to Trivago.com, a travel web site that's tracking prices at Louisville, Ky. hotels over Derby weekend.

Those prices are tracking high -- an average of $423 per night. That's a 247 percent increase as compared to the following weekend, when rates fall back to a much more reasonable $122 per night.

In other words, be prepared to pay up for a place to sleep off all those mint juleps.

But paying up doesn't seem to be a problem: Trivago reports it has less than eight percent hotel availability in Louisville on Friday night, May 2 and 11 percent on Saturday May 3. The race is on Saturday May 3 and marks the 140th running of the race.

Skyrocketing hotel rates around major sporting events are not unusual. Super Bowl hotel rates were, at one point, up as much as 550 percent.

But there is a bit of good news: Rates for a room in Louisville on Derby weekend are seven percent less expensive than they were last year on the same weekend.