Dublin ninth most expensive European city for hotels

Average Dublin hotel prices in August have "surged" by 28 per cent on last year to €168, making it the ninth most expensive city in which to stay in Europe.

Trivago, the price comparison website, released its hotel price index on Wednesday, based on over a billion international hotel prices and offers.

It said Dublin prices increased from an average of €131 for the same time last year, an 18 per cent higher rate of increase than the 10 per cent recorded nationally.

The survey follows data released by the Irish hotel industry on Tuesday for 2014, which showed average Dublin hotel prices at €97.25, and €82.29 nationally. The data, compiled in the Crowe Horwath Annual Irish Hotel Survey, put the Dublin average at €109 in August, 2014.

While the more recent prices have increased on last year, Trivago says prices in Dublin have remained in line with last month.

Irish Hotels Federation has, however, questioned the Trivago numbers.

“The price claims made by Trivago do not reflect the average room rate actually paid by guests staying in Dublin this August. The research carried out is based solely on the prices for rooms found on Trivago and represents a small percentage of last minute availability rates where people are booking just days beforehand,” the representative body said.

“The vast majority of visitors to Dublin will have obtained significantly lower rates by booking their accommodation in advance, including through other sources such as directly through individual hotel’s websites, through group bookings, directly with the hotel, and the conference and event market segments.”

Trivago found a slight month-on-month increase of 2 per cent to €127 for rooms outside Dublin in August, up from €124 in July.

The largest month-on-month increases are to be found in Dingle (up 9 per cent to €123), Tralee (up 8 per cent to €119) and Kilkenny (up 7 per cent to €113).

It places Dublin as the ninth most expensive city in Europe this month, based on the 50 most popular cities on its website.

Edinburgh is the most expensive, with the price of a standard double room in the Scottish capital costing an average of €295 ahead of the annual Edinburgh Festival - up 41 per cent from €210 in July 2015.

The most expensive day in the city was Saturday August 8th, the second day of the festival, when a hotel cost an average of €334, a 45 per cent increase from the previous Saturday.

Marquee events in Ireland have a similar effect. The average price in Tralee rose 8 per cent this month ahead of the Rose of Tralee International Festival running from August 14th to 18th.

The price of a standard double room in Tralee will now cost an average of €119, up from €110 in August 2014. This is a 17 per cent yearly increase from €102 in August last year.

"With the average hotel room in Ireland up 10 per cent compared to August 2014 - and up 28 per cent in the capital - these figures are great news for the hotel industry, which continues to boom," said Trivago's David Lintott.

This echoed the sentiment of Crowe Horwath which reported a third successive year of growth for the sector.

August's most expensive cities in order are: Edinburgh; Geneva; London; Venice; Bern; Copenhagen; Amsterdam; Nice; Dublin and Stockholm.