SOUNDING OFF:A reader identifying himself only as "Niall" came across an astonishing price for a hotel room in Dublin next June. The hotel is the Jurys opposite Croke Park and the date is Saturday, June 13th. And the price of the room? €450 for the night.
The reason the price is so high is because last Tuesday, Take That announced that they would be playing at Croke Park on that date - tickets are going on sale on Thursday.
We visited the site and, sure enough, we were quoted a price of €450 for the night. It is, the website says, an "event rate" and as our reader pointed out, "full pre-payment is required". On the plus side, breakfast is also included.
We also checked rates for the following date, when rooms in the same hotel cost €99.
"Rip-Off Ireland is still alive and kicking," Niall writes. "Needless to say, I have booked accommodation elsewhere."
Just out of curiosity, we went in search of more competitive rates in Dublin on the same date. A room in the five-star Merrion Hotel (which is where we'd stay if we were in Take That, incidentally) was available for as little as €275 for the night. A room, meanwhile, in the similarly starred Westbury Hotel costs an even more competitive €199 for the night of the Take That concert.
We contacted Jurys to see how it could justify charging such a price for a room. In a statement, the hotel robustly defended the price. It said it was "a four-star deluxe property" and the rate of €450 per night was a rack rate which had been approved by Fáilte Ireland.
"The hotel is currently operating at over 80 per cent occupancy for the night of Saturday, June 13th 2009, due to exceptionally high demand and a large block booking on the night," it continued. "The hotel operates on a pricing scale, which means that a small number of rooms are priced at rack rate all year round. As discounted rooms are sold for a given date, the last few available rooms are sold at the higher end of the pricing spectrum. Cheaper rates are usually available for customers who book well in advance.
"This pricing model is widely used across the hotel and leisure industry and indeed in other industries."
Jurys said it regretted any inconvenience that the high price might cause to potential customers, but pointed out that the weekend of June 13th 2009 will be one of its busiest of the summer. It concluded by saying that there was "a wide selection of alternative accommodation options in the vicinity of Croke Park at a range of price points, which should suit most budgets".
So, take that.
Knocked for six
Daryl Hanberry had a rental experience last weekend, which he says, "knocked me for six". He says he has recently moved back to "the rip-off Republic from Northern Ireland" and, as he had one or two things to move with him, he looked into hiring a van.
"Enterprise in Dublin would hire me a medium van (Vivaro or equivalent) for around €135 for 24 hours," he writes. "However, Enterprise in Belfast would allow me to hire an identical van for just under £45 (approx €56). That's almost 60 per cent cheaper. Unbelievable."
He is also convinced that people in the Republic are "beginning to realise the value to be had in Northern Ireland, as when I was driving down from Belfast , the traffic going north on Bank Holiday Monday from the Republic resembled the M50 at rush hour pre-barrier-free tolling."
