A hotel for the rugby? That’ll be €2,500!
RUGBY fans travelling to Cardiff for Ireland’s quarterfinal clash with Argentina are being asked to fork out more than €2,500 for a room.
Hotel search site Trivago has called price rises of 960 per cent on Saturday ‘unprecedented’.
IRISH rugby fans are being forced to fork out big money to attend this weekend’s quarter final in Cardiff, with some hotel rooms costing more than €2,500.
Fans planning to stay overnight before Ireland take on Argentina in the Millennium Stadium on Sunday will have to fork out as much as £ 1,990 (€2,688) for a double room at one three-star hotel.
The Village Urban Resort’s exorbitant rate does not even include breakfast – and it’s more than seven kilometres from the stadium. But last night it still had availability.
The same room costs £259 on Sunday night with breakfast.
Over at Hotel Novotel, doubles and twins at £599 for Saturday night are sold out, while all rooms at the four-star Park Plaza Cardiff, at £500 (€675.37) for Saturday night, are also sold out.
It still has availability on Sunday night at £399 (€538.95) for a room.
Doubles and twins at the threestar Maldron Hotel, at £409 for both nights, are sold out.
Hotel search site Trivago.com found that prices for hotel rooms in Cardiff soared an astonishing 960 per cent for Saturday night.
A Trivago spokesman said the price increases are ‘unprecedented’ and the ‘most extreme we have ever reported for a UK event’.
Ryanair flights from Dublin to Cardiff are selling for €260.99 on Saturday and Sunday morning, with flights home on Monday selling for €107.99. However, after the 1pm kick-off, the cost of flights from Dublin to Cardiff drop to €64.99.
Aer Lingus is charging as much as €341.99 for flights from Dublin to Cardiff on Saturday. After the match, prices are as low as €42.99. The airline expects to carry 4,000 passengers to the game.
Dermott Jewell of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland said: ‘The fans are not happy to pay it. They’re willing to pay it because they’re fans but the reality is they’re being fleeced and it’s that simple.’
Match tickets are still available on the Rugby World Cup’s official website, ranging from £95 to £250.