Price levels for tourist services

Yep, Syria is certainly more expensive than it ever was. Go back there and you'll see why: Tourism is absolutely booming (which, in my opinion, is a brilliant thing, even if it does make it more expensive for those of us who have been going there for years).

The ending of visa requirements for Turks means that Aleppo in particular is seeing a lot more cross-border tourism, and Damascus has seen a surge in western tourists and westerners learning Arabic. The change in Damascus over the past six years (and particularly in the past three) has been dramatic: tons of derelict buildings in the Old City have been renovated and turned into restaurants and hotels, there's now tourist information booths (!), quite a few new cafes, bars and even nightclubs, new paving on Straight Street, and so on. I'm not sure how profound the changes have been - I'm not Syrian, and I don't really have any way of telling whether they're just cosmetic or not - but the mood in Syria at the moment does seem to be towards greater openness, a bit more personal freedom, and much more interaction with the outside world (although Syrians of a secular bent seem slightly worried by a simultaneous rise in piety amongst more religious Syrians).

You'll notice that in the larger cities, you don't get stopped by strangers for chats or invites to tea as frequently as you once did (although it still remains the friendliest country I've ever been to by a large margin). Outside of the main places on the tourist trail, it's still as overwhelmingly friendly and hospitable as always.

I'd agree that mid- and high-end hotel and restaurant prices have more or less doubled in the past five years. Prices for transport, basic accomodation and street food haven't risen by much, however. From memory, exit taxes are now 550SYP at the land borders; if you fly out, the price will have already been factored into your ticket.

Even taking all the above into account, it's still an extremely cheap place to visit by western standards - it's still much cheaper than Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, in my experience. Perhaps if you got out to some of the less-visited places like Tartous, Raqaa, Hassake and Deir ez-Zor, you might find prices much closer to what you're used to.

I'd recommend going right now before it changes any more! I've more or less visited every year for the past six or so, and it's fascinating to watch how it's been changing. When I first visited Damascus, I don't recall seeing another westerner the whole week I was there!