A very Dear Green Place! Prices hiked for summit
SCOTLAND’S biggest city is being turned into an extremely Dear Green Place as a climate change summit drives up hotel prices.
Glasgow will play host to the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP 26) for almost two weeks in November, when 200 global prime ministers and presidents are expected to attend the United Nations summit – with no fewer than 30,000 other delegates.
Security is likely to cost hundreds of millions of pounds as a ring of steel is formed to protect VIPs from climate protesters, who could include Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg.
But inquiries by The Scottish Mail on Sunday have unearthed some astonishing rates being charged for the period of the conference in city hotels and apartment complexes.
Website booking.com is offering a four-bedroom duplex apartment in the city centre for a staggering £34,986 for a 14-night period.
The rate being charged for the Blythswood Square Apartments works out at just under £2,500 per night. The website states: ‘Limited supply in Glasgow for your dates.’
Many top hotels are already fully booked.
However, some appear to be cashing in on the huge demand for beds.
A search for the Radisson Blu hotel, less than a mile from the conference venue, shows a rate of £624 (room only) per night between November 8 and 22.
A week earlier, however, before the conference begins, rooms are available for just £150.
Businessman Peter Sunderland insists he has not hiked rates at the Blythswood Square Apartments due to the conference.
He said: ‘These are very high-end apartments. We get a lot of Prosecco girls, hen and stag parties who would book up if they could.
‘We consciously set rates high to discourage them because they are bad for business. Instead, we attract a lot of guests from the Middle East who are happy to pay a lot of money for the right place.’
A spokeswoman for the Radisson Hotel Group said: ‘Every hotel is managed based on the demand and offer. It is like this in any industry.’
Elsewhere in the city, a search through booking.com for the Dakota Glasgow shows a two-week cost of £8,401 for a Classic Double Room – a nightly rate of £600. Scroll back a month to October 11, and the site offers the same Classic Double Room for £117 per night. Yesterday, Scottish Greens councillor Jon Molyneux said: ‘While we have a huge opportunity to deliver climate action, we also want those who come here to leave with a good impression of our city.
‘It would be extremely disappointing if exorbitant pricing negatively impacted on that.’
‘It is like this in any industry’