Cop a load of how hotels are cashing in

HOTEL bosses are cashing in on the COP26 summit, with a three-night stay in Glasgow during the conference costing more than a room at the Ritz.

World leaders are due to gather in the city between October 31 and November 12 for the climate change summit and major hotels have already sold out of rooms.

They are expected to be joined by thousands of officials and delegations from businesses and environmental organisations.

There are no rooms available in the Hilton hotels, the Radisson, Millennium Hotel and Holiday Inns during the first few days of the conference. Other city centre hotels including Hotel Indigo and the Crowne Plaza are also completely sold out.

Beds are available at smaller hotels, hostels and apartments, but some owners are charging up to seven times usual rates.

A stay at the Euro Hostel in Clyde Place will set punters back £750 – while just four weeks earlier the same stay would cost the budget-conscious traveller £108. Bosses at the Charing Cross Hotel in the west of the city are charging £1,609 for a three-night stay – while a room at the Ritz in London costs just £1,380.

To book the same room at the 24-bed Glasgow hotel four weeks earlier would cost £378 for three nights.

The Blythswood Square hotel is completely sold out for the duration of the conference. It was reportedly charging just under £2,500 per night.

Apartment and flat rentals are also looking to profit from the COP bonanza, with the biggest hike in price at VKM Apartments in Pollokshields.

It has a one-bedroom apartment available for £4,645 for three nights. A month earlier it would cost £513.

Furious locals used social media to slam the price hikes, with one saying: ‘They’d better watch out or they’ll price themselves out of the market.’

COP26 will be the biggest summit the UK has ever hosted, with around 30,000 attendees. Protesters are also expected to descend on the city.