Haggling for your holidays can bring prices down, but beware of making your would-be hosts hostile, writes CONOR POPE
It’s amazing the difference a recession makes. Two years ago, as we grumbled and moaned about the high price of everything, from hotel rooms to hot whiskeys, the very idea that we could haggle was unthinkable.
The Celtic Tiger’s cubs were pussycats when it came to asking for discounts but it’s all changed now, and people are hunting for holiday bargains with a shameless doggedness that would make a Moroccan market stallholder blush.
According to industry sources, four out of five calls to hotels from people interested in making a booking involve some class of haggling, and the trend towards online bookings has been reversed, as it’s impossible to haggle with a website.
There are big savings to be made as many hotels are willing to fill empty rooms by offering discounts.
Earlier this year, a Pricewatch reader contacted the Hotel Meyrick in Galway and was quoted a price of €240 a night for a double room for two. She pointed out that it had a midweek offer on its website for €110 a night and asked if she could have that rate for the weekend?
“And they said yes. Not only did they say yes, they then offered me €299 for two nights for a junior suite plus breakfast and a three-course dinner for two,” she says.
It’s not all good news. Travel writer Georgina Campbell says hotel owners “are worn down with all the haggling. You can end up just annoying the people who you want to be your hosts if you haggle too hard.” She says it is better to see if there is anything the hotel can throw in – green fees or spa treatments – rather than focusing exclusively on price.
“Most places are really only hanging in there. They have already reduced prices and are struggling. If they don’t get support this summer we will see a lot of places not opening next year.”
Fáilte Ireland director John Concannon agrees. He says it is not really in a position to encourage people to haggle as the industry is “under serious pressure”, and too much haggling could put small businesses under even greater pressure. “The reality is if many of these businesses cut their prices further, then they will not be able to stay in business.”
Freddie McMurray and her husband Simon own Gregans Castle Hotel in Ballyvaughan, Co Clare. With room rates starting at €235 – rising to €450 for a premium suite – it is not a cheap place to stay, but, if the TripAdvisor reviews are anything to go by, it’s a price worth paying. Of the 37 people who have rated the 20-room hotel, 27 have declared it to be excellent while six classified it as very good. McMurray says that 80 per cent of callers are now looking to cut a deal.
Some, she suspects, have no intention of coming to stay but are haggling for the sport of it. “I have no issue with people haggling for a better price – I do it myself – but you have to go into it looking for a certain standard or a certain price, and I’m not sure those two things are always compatible. People are confusing cheap with value. If you drop your prices too low then eventually standards will suffer.”
SHARE YOUR TIPS
Stunned by high prices or bad service? Want to share a bargain? Let us know at www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pricewatch
