HOTELS IN Dublin have been accused of profiteering by increasing their prices on the nights that U2 are expected to play at Croke Park. The band, which released their 12th studio album No Line on the Horizonlast week, are set to embark on an 18-month world tour.
While dates have yet to be confirmed, it is widely expected that U2 will perform three concerts at the 82,000-capacity stadium in Dublin on July 24th, 25th and 26th. U2 fans have expressed outrage as some hotels have more than doubled their daily room rates on the nights when the band are likely to play.
Jim Hickey (35) from Cobh, Co Cork, who runs the Irish-based “Electric Co” fan website said that fans were shocked to discover that many hotels were seeking to take advantage of them.
According to its website, the Jurys Hotel at Croke Park is charging €299 per night for the weekend of the 24th to 27th for a room compared to just €79 for the weekend before the concerts and €134 per night for the weekend after the concerts. The Morrison Hotel on Ormond Quay is charging an extra €30 per night for the nights when U2 are due in town, while the Gresham Hotel on O’Connell Street has increased its daily standard double room rate from €140 to €300.
The Clarence Hotel, which is co-owned by Bono and U2 guitarist The Edge, is fully booked up for the weekend when the band are due to play Croke Park.
“Hoteliers are just taking advantage. Just last week hoteliers were calling for a bailout because business is bad and yet here they are ready to rip-off fans of U2 who would love to see them perform at Croke Park,” said Mr Hickey.
“Many followers of the band would be loathe to pay the kind of prices that hotels are charging and, from what I’m hearing, some are thinking of jumping on a Ryanair flight and going to see them in England or mainland Europe instead.”
A spokeswoman for the Gresham Hotel defended its decision to increase room rates.° “We always put the rates up when there are events on in the city and, obviously, as soon as those dates were suggested, we were inundated with bookings.”
Meanwhile, the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), which represents almost 1,000 hotels and guesthouses nationwide, said that rather than profiteering, many establishments were simply reverting back to charging standard prices for rooms.
“What has happened this year is that hotels are giving very high discounts and so during big events such as concerts they revert back to full prices,” said IHF chief executive John Power.
