Taylor’s made for a Swift profit
Airbnb hosts charging up to eight times normal rate for Dublin shows
AIRBNB hosts are charging up to eight times their usual rates for accommodation on the weekend of Taylor Swift’s Dublin shows next summer.
The pop superstar takes her long-awaited Eras tour to Ireland from June 28-30.
But an analysis of accommodation in the capital on those dates shows very few rooms are still available, with the remaining options charging some eye-watering prices.
A tiny one bedroom ‘cosy’ flat within walking distance of the Aviva Stadium is listed for €2,050 per night.
The Beggars Bush property – which the owner readily admits is not professionally cleaned and is full of his and his partner’s belongings – is currently listed for €267 per night.
And despite being asked to shell out more than €2,000, guests are informed they are ‘expected’ to take out the bins, put their dishes in the dishwasher and make sure it is turned on before they leave.
The only days you can stay in this Airbnb property next year are between Thursday, June 27 and Monday, July 1 – one day either side of Swift’s concerts.
A second property, which has two bedrooms and sleeps four, is available for €1,286 per night. There are no stipulated housework requirements with this letting. Guests are also allowed to make use of complimentary shower gel and shampoo in the bathroom – but they would need to use at least 500 bottles to recoup the cost of their stay.
The Ballsbridge flat has no previous reviews, and it is unclear if anybody has actually stayed there before or if it’s been listed specifically for the concert demand.
Swift fans hoping to snap up a hotel room will find very few available options.
Despite the concerts being eight months away, several budgetfriendly hotels in the capital are already sold out.
Rooms at the closest three-star hotel to the Aviva, Merrion Square Studios, will set Swift fans back €479 for a single night. The same room is €109 cheaper for the Saturday night after the concert.
And for fans with deeper pockets, the five-star Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge only has premium rooms left for the concert dates, which cost €752 per night and does not include breakfast.
Tickets for Swift’s concerts went on sale at the end of July and sold out within minutes.
Despite a complex ticketing process to prevent touts gaining access, tickets quickly appeared on resale sites where standing tickets nearest the stage were listed at €4,000.
Before tickets had even gone on sale, 88% of Airbnbs within one kilometre of the Aviva Stadium were booked for the dates of the concerts. That was up 91% from the previous week, according to research by Airbtics.
The eye-watering prices for Airbnb accommodation comes as the Government has been criticised
‘One bed flat listed at €2,050 per night’
for failing to enforce regulations around short-term lets.
Consumers’ Association of Ireland chair Michael Kilcoyne described the high prices as ‘pure greed’.
He said: ‘These Airbnb hosts can do what they like and it’s pricing fans out of the concert. It’s time the Government looked at putting some kind of controls in place.’
An Airbnb spokesman said: ‘These listings are not booked and are not representative of prices on Airbnb. The average price for booked accommodation on Airbnb in Dublin for the nights of the concert is around €310 and helps local families boost their earnings and benefit from visitors to Dublin.’
A spokeswoman for the Competition
and Consumer Protection Commission, confirmed it has received a small number of complaints relating to hotel cancellations and the new higher prices some venues were charging for the weekend of the Taylor Swift concerts.
The Irish Hotels Federation was contacted for comment.