Houses within an 80-mile radius of the K Club are being offered for rent for next month's Ryder Cup - some at staggering prices. Edel Morgan reports
Many people offering their homes for rent during the Ryder Cup look set for disappointment as the supply of private rented accommodation far outstrips demand.
The media hype surrounding the event, which takes place in the K Club in Straffan, Co Kildare, from September 22nd to 24th, has led droves of people within an 80-mile radius to advertise their homes on Ryder Cup accommodation web sites. One, www.tourrentals.com, urges people "to book early to avoid disappointment".
However the reality is that anyone booking now would have their pick of accommodation - particularly of semi-ds, bungalows and terraced houses in residential areas.
John Colclough of tour operating company Adams & Butler says that while most of the available luxury properties were snapped up some time ago by the official sponsors of the Ryder Cup for six-figure sums, "the ones of which there are an enormous number left are in housing estates in areas like Straffan, Sallins, and Celbridge".
He says that while it is understandable that many people who live around the K Club want to move out of their homes for the duration "as they know their lives will be reduced to utter misery with cars coming off Galway and Naas Road", the market for smaller homes is saturated.
He says the average price for a "not flashy three-bed" on his books is €3,000-€3,500 per week "which for six people for five nights at €100 per night is not a rip- off".
However a trawl of a number of accommodation websites confirms that some people asking for far more than €3,500 for their relatively modest homes for a two week period.
On www.rydercuphomerental.com, The Beeches in Straffan, a four-bed house, is asking $25,000 (€19,400). The website's star property, a three-bed semi in Maynooth, Co Kildare, is a hefty $8,000 (€6,209). A six-bed detached bungalow on the Enniskerry Road in Dublin is asking $30,000 (€23,285). On rydercup-accommodation.com, a three-bed house in Lanesborough near Finglas, "ideally located for the Ryder Cup" is €5,000.
A three-bed penthouse apartment in Cabinteely is asking €6,000 per week while in Carlow a three-bed semi is €8,000 for two weeks. In Portlaoise, a three-bed B&B is asking €15,000 per week. Some are charging by the person , with an average rate of €2,000 per head.
John Bosco French of French Estates in Kildare says those asking exorbitant prices for their homes, particularly those a distance from the K Club, will be left behind.
"People have overshot the runway but there will be a pick-up in short-term demand because corporate and members' guest tickets are only being released now. Some people will be caught unawares and will be looking for accommodation over the next few weeks."
According to Brian Higgins of rydercup-accommodation.com, some people are reducing the price tag on their homes to entice interest. Others are going a step further and throwing in extra perks. The owner of a large house in Newcastle, Co Dublin asking €24,000 for the duration of the event is throwing in a Mercedes, housekeeper and Ryder Cup tickets as part of the deal. Others are offering ominous sounding "free welcome packs" and transport to the event.
At the K Club itself, standard two-bed apartments are fetching €20,000 to €50,000 with four-bed houses getting in the region of €100,00 to €150,000, according to French. However, it appears that few K Club property owners are tempted by the money. One said he declined the offer of €30,000 to €40,000 for his two-bed apartment at the club because "it wouldn't be worthwhile. The danger is the place would get trashed and most people with properties at the K Club spend a fortune doing them up. I don't know anyone else who has rented their place. Most members will want to be there for the event, and let's face it not many of them need the money".
Money is no object for many of John Colclough's clients, but they demand luxury in return. "What is €40,000 or €50,000 to the kind of people who drive a €400,000 Maserati? Some will call up at the last minute and will expect you to be able to come up with exactly what they want. If the house is not available we will knock on doors and having found what we want, we will ask the owner how much they want to move out."
Mary Stones, manager of the Kildare Heritage office, says the bulk of local Fáilte Ireland-approved accommodation in the area has been snapped up. She has received "hundreds of calls" from people with houses to rent "but I have to tell them that we only deal with Fáilte Ireland-approved accommodation." She blames the media hype for people "jumping on the bandwagon. Why pay €5,000 for a place that isn't approved or regulated when you can stay in a hotel for less.
