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Hotel Rooms for Groundhog Day, Top Super Bowl Rates


FILE - Groundhog Club co-handler John Griffiths holds Punxsutawney Phil during the annual celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Feb. 2, 2016. The handlers say the furry rodent has failed to see his shadow, meaning he's "predicted"
FILE - Groundhog Club co-handler John Griffiths holds Punxsutawney Phil during the annual celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Feb. 2, 2016. The handlers say the furry rodent has failed to see his shadow, meaning he's "predicted"

A hotel room for Groundhog Day will cost more than one for the Super Bowl.

Travel website Trivago says the average price of a room in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where Groundhog Day is marked February 2, is about $450. A room for Super Bowl 51 Sunday in Houston will set you back $340, according to the site.

Groundhog Day, which is Thursday, dates back to at least the 19th century and is ostensibly a predictor of when spring will arrive. The story goes, if the day is cloudy, and the groundhog can not see its shadow, spring will arrive early, before March 21. If it can see its shadow, winter supposedly will last another six weeks.

The Super Bowl will feature the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons vying for the U.S. National Football League championship.

“Because Houston has so many hotels, the city is better equipped to handle large inflows of people, as opposed to smaller cities with fewer rooms available,” said Jon Eichelberger, Trivago’s Americas Head. “Historically, we see smaller rate increases for cities with a lot of hotels versus those with fewer, even when they host an event as large as the Super Bowl.”

Room prices in Punxsutawney are expected to drop by at least $300 after Groundhog day.

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