They are not my stats. They are industry stats.

I agree that Hotel prices did rise to fast for a few years in Dublin. The city was booming & supply & demand kicked in. I did however find that if you looked you could find a good deal even back then. Most hotels now charge a room rate and & B&B rate. Most people want a room rate. A lot of Hotels in Dublin charge for parking but not all. I used to work for Sheraton Hotels and in my travels this seems to be common in major cities. I am not sure about weddings but take it from me, Hotels are charging less and a lot are losing money this year. If they don’t charge less they don’t get the business.

I agree like a business it is a risk. I know this personally. I don’t think it is adding price as price has come down. What I do think that after this year Hotels will become leaner & fitter. This should benefit the guest. I am the last person that would call for protectionism. I think Irish Hotels need to be offer value and service to survive for here on.

p.s I am on the train to Dublin. Could have got a no fills place for €49 and a decent 3 star for €59 tonight in Dublin. Take off 13.5% vat, energy, staff and room servicing costs there is not a whole lot left. To me that is value. Am not seeing a most other services reducing prices like this.

Thanks for the feedback. It makes doing the post more rewarding

I think your stats are very flat – what I found expensive about Dublin when I first started travelling there in the late 90’s was that it was Per Person sharing rates – so it was shockingly high. Parking and breakfast aren’t included in the current prices.

You also have to remember there are lots of “add-on” (some might say basic, necessary) services sold at a premium.

New hotels also had a tax incentive (which I agree led to a possible over supply) – which should reduce the net Capital investment cost.

What would be terrible is if the government stepped in with Protectionism because it would stop many of the innovations that may come out of it – and I’m not highlighting cost cutting/price wars as innovation.

Take weddings – they were double the price in Ireland over the UK because they were a soft target based on a social preference to include big families in an (very new) Irish tradition.

Last year, for a wedding you would have been charged around €65-75 for the main mean, again for the evening meal, again for a bar extension (even thought you have brought 100 people to their bar), and for accommodation and for wine or corkage. The cost of a wedding has been slashed dramatically and I will not accept that they are making a loss. I’m sure they’re making less.

We had undersupply (of hotels) and oversupply of (people needing them). Now its heading a little to the other extreme. Thats life, thats the risk of business.

Hotels spent 1998-2008 finding ways to make more and more money. Thats business. Now they need to find ways of adding value without adding price. Good thing if you ask me.

A number of hotels have already placed staff on 3 day weeks, others have implemented pay cuts in order to address critical cash flow issues and some will close for the winter. How does one motivate staff under these circumstances and ensure standards are kept up to par?

The last thing the struggling hotel and tourism sectors need is for clients to be disappointed or dissatisfied by their hotel experience should they choose to avail of these low rates. Let’s remember, it’s not all about price, it’s about value for money and I believe that this is what will distinguish true hoteliers from the so-called “vanity investors” of the boom years.