Hoteliers who hike Race Week prices ‘giving Galway a bad name’

Hoteliers in Galway who hike up their prices for Race Week have been accused of giving a bad name to the city after it was discovered that a minority are charging up to five times their normal room rates at the height of the seven day festival

The Galway City Tribune has discovered that one city hotel is charging €395 for a room on Ladies’ Night, the Thursday of the festival, whereas a room can be sourced on the same website for €69 one week later.

A survey of Trivago, the price comparison website, shows that a room in the Pillo Hotel costs €432 on the night of Wednesday, July 31, but can be sourced for €96 on the following Wednesday. The House Hotel costs €300 on the night of July 31, but can be booked for €149 a week later.

A room at the Radisson Blu on the same night cost €400 on the website yesterday, whereas a booking for the following Wednesday comes in at €279; and the cheapest price for a room at St Jude’s Lodge, a B&B on College Road, is €455 on July 31. The cost of a room at St Jude’s Lodge eight nights later, on August 8, is €103.

Comparing the rates for August 8 with August 1, Ladies’ Night, shows that the lowest price for the Carlton Hotel rises from €106 to €244, the Clayton goes from €130 to €299, the Pillo rises from €114 to €246, The Western from €113 to €295, and the Hanley Oaks increases from €69 to €395.

Demand for accommodation this year has increased substantially due to a major poker festival, which begins on the Monday of Race Week and runs for two weeks. The Full Tilt Poker Festival is expected to attract hundreds of additional visitors to the city.

The Consumer Association of Ireland (CAI) has advised visitors to the city to shun hotels which raise their prices excessively for Race Week and to consider using hotels outside the city and perhaps taking a taxi to the Galway Races. 

“The Government has been pumping money into promoting tourism and has reduced the VAT rate for the hotels sector,” said a CAI spokesman, Michael Kilcoyne, yesterday. “It is clear that some hotels see this as a licence to print money, but these guys are going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.”

 Read more in today’s Galway City Tribune