As far as I know, 2016 was the last year where we got the pre-tax price, the the cultural subsidy or so-called "bed tax". While we still got a discount on the regular prices, there is a rise for sure, and yeah, i can understand the fuss this year with the introduction of the new booking system and the "surprise" of not higher prices.
If I am right it was already been known by EF 2015 (at least to a lot of locals) that the price will rise due to the tax.