Price gouging by the pub, restaurant & hotel industry

Look it, getting a pint served up to for 8.50 and in out of the rain is great value.. Also free use of the toilet.

Used to have one holiday with extended family in a random hotel in Ireland once a year. All the aunts, uncles, cousins would stay in the hotel for 3 or 4 days.

This year it got cancelled by the hotel as they had overbooked. I know what really happened, but thats neither here nor there (theyve filled their rooms with people who the government are paying for, so why would they want any ordinary guests.).

So we all went to Sicily for the 4 days. Some of us ended up staying a week. Cost us less than the hotel in ireland would have cost.

So for next year we were looking at the prices again. The hotels are double if not triple the price in Ireland, so its abroad again. to be honest I doubt it will ever be booked in Ireland again. Lots of people also who i know who do regular hotel getaways in Ireland are now going to do weekend getaways abroad instead. Once the hotel industries government sponsored guests are not available anymore the hotels here are going to find that they are not wanted anymore either.

Booked a hotel in Dublin city centre recently. Looked up prices and they were all mad money, but it was for a special occasion so, went with one I thought was reasonable enough (compared to the rest at least).

€220 per night for a double room. As we checked in, I asked about breakfast times etc. "Oh you're not booked in for breakfast as that’s separate, if you want to eat here it's an extra €17 each”.

As I’m trying to work out how ridiculous it is to pay €34 for two buffet brekkies, she then says “oh, I forgot to ask…..did you drive here?......because it’s €20 per night to stay in the carpark”

That 'cheap' room of €220 ended up being €274 for one night on a random Friday with nothing special on in the city. That is an absolute disgrace. You’d get flights to Europe and accommodation for 2 nights for that kinda money, only you’d end up spending less on food/drink.

Stay away from the Spencer, anyway.

The sooner we sort out the housing crisis the better. These scumbags will get a sharp landing when their bubble bursts and there's an overabundance of accommodation available.

Put their hand out for a dig out, after covid people return with custom is spades…. And the thanks people get for their double dose of assistance… gouged.

B-b-but the minimum wage (German minimum wage is 12euro), the VAT (German hotel VAT only 2% lower than ireland)

Also funny how @ZookeeperDub mentioned vat on food and wine but not hotel VAT in Ireland, which is still 9%, compared to portugals 6%. Not nearly the same impact on prices as 23 vs 13% suggests.

Taxi prices aren't expensive in fairness. taxis dont tend to drive as the crow flys, they cant just drive through fields and hedges you know.

what is the actual distance by road from your house to the airport?

seeing as you are presumably a crow, why dont you just fly to the airport? or to the country you are flying to?

How is it that German hotels with higher minimum wages are cheaper than irish?

Same price as Germany, way cheaper than switzerland, cheaper than Finland. you cant be comparing it to bus prices or the price of flights, you are sharing the trip in the other modes of transport.

This is what I'll never understand. People complaining about the price of things afterwards, if you're not happy with it having checked before then just don't pay it. If its something like a pint and you get told the price after you've ordered, just leave it at the bar.

Last three years here, prices from €350 to €500 for houses for a week for 6 people in coastal areas. Around or less than €10 a night per person.