Hoteliers defend festival rates in Galway

THE IRISH Hotels Federation has defended accommodation prices in Galway during next month’s festival season.

With four festivals running throughout July, several medium-range city hotels have been quoting room rates between 50 and 100 per cent higher than the normal June rate.

Pubs are also taking advantage of the anticipated increase in visitors, having been granted a number of late-night extensions during the Volvo Ocean Race final and the Galway Race festival.

Rates of up to €400 a night for a medium-range double room without breakfast have been quoted by several establishments for Galway race week, which runs from July 30th to August 5th.

Pricing is not quite so high for the Volvo Ocean festival (June 30th-July 8th), but higher than during the Galway film fleadh (July 10th-15th) and arts festival (July 16th to 29th) periods.

Several readers who contacted The Irish Times say rates quoted by phone were sometimes higher than those advertised online.

One city centre hotel’s website quoted €160 per night for a double room without breakfast during Volvo Ocean festival week, and €200 per night for race week, compared to €89 a night in early June.

When contacted by telephone, the same hotel quoted rates of between €350 and €400 per night, depending on dates, for the same type of room for the race festival.

The hotels federation’s Galway branch chairman, Paul Gill, said the issue was one of “supply and demand”, and people were still willing to pay prices which were advertised with “full transparency”.

However, he said a survey by the Galway branch of the federation last year, which compared prices for 2007 to those for 2011, showed a 40 per cent reduction.

“Hotel rates have peaked in Galway city centre for the last 60 years for race week, and people who choose to come here don’t feel they are being ripped off,” Mr Gill said.

“Hotels are bearing the brunt of the downturn, and we never set out to exploit demand – but we do believe in charging a premium,” he said.

Fáilte Ireland said hotels were entitled to charge within minimum and maximum advertised rates.

Its spokesman said that hotels were operating at reduced margins, but a recent survey showed value for money was at a “10-year high”.

Mayor of Galway Hildegarde Naughton (FG) said a number of hotels, pubs and restaurants had signed up to a charter for the Volvo festival period, promising premium service and no overcharging. Labour councillor Niall McNelis said he would have “serious concerns” about any attempt to exploit visitors, but said there was still very good value to be had in most hotels and guesthouses.

Galway vintners are advertising five extensions to 2am and two to midnight during the Volvo event, and seven nights to 2am during race week, with just one 2am extension during the arts festival.

Cllr McNelis, who was behind an initiative last March to restrict sales of off-licence alcohol and avoid what he described as a “drink-fuelled mess” in the city, said it was far easier to contain excessive drinking in licensed premises.