With Formula 1 pre-season testing in the offing, my wife and I decided to make a weekend of the trip, booking into a centre-city hotel in order to take in Barcelona and surrounds before she departed on a late Sunday flight. I would then move on to a bed-and-breakfast closer to the circuit for this week's four F1 test days.
Fortunately we booked early, when the prices were reasonable. Colleagues who left it late were stunned at the cost (and non-availability) of rooms; ditto rental cars and flights.
The fact is, F1 had again left its final choice of test venue and dates so late that most hotels and car renters were overbooked - the simultaneous Mobile World Congress having got its act together sooner, as always.