Price gouging by the pub, restaurant & hotel industry

yeah, 9 euro for a glass of wine, half the size of what I'd pour at home

We'd bite the hands off you for a pint of Guinness at that price over here in Dublin.

Ah heyor, that article is 8 months old. There have been two increases since then. There's not one pub in Dublin selling a pint of guinness under a fiver. I know of just two selling it at a fiver.

Had a cod and chips from the local chipper last night. €13 for a Cod and chips and another €1.90 for a can of Fanta.

My own fault for being too lazy to get something at home. Theres another thing not to be doing anymore either.

I think the takeaways are making more than restaurants.

Sister in law got a few pizzas from Domino's for one of the kids birthdays, just under e80, I'd be surprised if the ingredients cost 8. Pure stodge.

Yeah they are gone to the dogs everywhere. We have just stopped ordering in at this point. Possibly once a month. That's the good thing about Just Eat. You see the total and it's eye watering. A few year ago the 4 of us were getting a chinese for around 30 quid. That is closer to the 50 mark. Not long ago a spice bag was 6 quid. It's 10 quid now.

The likes of a Spicebag is handy enough to make at home with an Air fryer. Healthier too I'd imagine.

Edit: My last order

2 x Spice Bags

2 x Egg Fried Rice

1 Prawn Cracker

1 x Chicken Balls

1 x Large Curry Sauce

€45.89

That's between four of us. A few year ago 1 spice bag done the trick but they have reduced the size significantly.

| Yeah they are gone to the dogs everywhere. | 

Might explain some of the quality. I thought my last "chicken" curry in our previous local was as much terrier as terrible.

You can buy a bad of frozen hot & spicy shredded chicken in Aldi for around €4 (I think). Cook in the oven, through some frozen chips in the air-fryer. Slice a few not so hot few chilli peppers and a small carrot very thinly, soak them for about 30 seconds in hot water, and flash fry them on the pan in a tiny amount of spray oil, stirring constantly so they don't burn and stick for about 90 seconds.

When they're done, mix them altogether on a plate. Sprinkle some salt, paprika and a tiny bit of Chinese-five-spice over it while mixing it.

Voila, a home-made spicy bag for two.

That's exactly what we do. Can't beat it. 4 portions for the price of one in the local Chinese.

Replace the salt / Parika / Five spice for Funky Money spice bag mix though.

Agree. I ditched Dominoes when a single pizza hit the 20 Euro mark. Never again. Same with all take outs really with the traditional cod and chips gone off the charts. Even a simple toastie in a pub has been "embellished" to rip off levels. Pubs in Chapelizod and Kildare recently tried to hit me for 12 e...so done with that too. Fortunately I cook all my own food these days and only go abroad for holidays. I got badly stung ten years back with two kids in tow (hired car, hotels, food, tours and entry charges etc.) topped off with the car being vandalised by junkies in Westport. Never ever again. Thank you Ryanair.

I'm going on holidays next month for a couple of weeks. My FLIGHTS and accommodation to TOKYO was 300 euros more expensive that the equivalent hotel stay in Dublin and that was including breakfast. And this is just a Holiday Inn. Not a 1 star place, but not exactly top tier either. I'm staying in an equivalent hotel type in an area called Ueno. I know the area quite well and it has great transport links (Direct train to Narita airport and 3 subway lines and JR Ring rail). 30 min walk to Akihabara, 30 min was to Asakusa. Nice area.

Now the exchange rate is working in my favour but still. This is relatively "Off-Season" in Ireland and relatively "On-Season" in Japan.

Yes, costs are high but the predatory pricing and then wailing and screeching about post pandemic impact on business irritates me. Especially anywhere near city centres. Many small and old rural and suburban pubs have gone to the wall and I do feel for them. They really were destroyed by C19 and general costs rising. But hotels? Nope. Not one single ounce of sympathy.

I tried the new McDonalds crispy chicken deluxe.

I was looking forward to a plump and juicy burger, like in the advertisement.... its not.

690c for a flat and soggy piece of crap.

Apparently the price of a bag of Maris Pipers has shot up to around 25 euro. Crazy price and another rip-off.

Was in Kilmuckridge about 2 weeks ago, decided we'd go out for dinner on the Wednesday night, and tried to book a table on Monday evening/Tuesday morning for the Wednesday night....

Everything booked out.... on a Wednesday! (even as far as Gorey!)

We ended up chancing walking in to a local hotel, and we got a seat (had we been 5 mins later we'd have had to wait). Food in the Hotel was rotten (1/10). I ordered a pulled pork burger and what came out was chopped up ham with BBQ sauce on it, in a bundies bun. (€14 please!)

This idea that Restaurants / Pubs are in serious trouble is rubbish. Pubs are closing because people have a bit more cop on now than to be drinking a skinfill of beer.

We need controls and regulation that stop these lobbying groups crying out "Times are tough" when in fact they're more lucrative than ever!

Blatant lies/Fake news or what ever you want to call it are a major issue thee days.

I'm not at all in favour of limiting peoples speech, but by the same token I'm not in favour of people who make heaps of money come on the airwaves and tell lies that they're about to go out of business, and they need need tax cuts and what not.

Like I just did a very quick Check there on booking.com for the 21st - 22nd Jun 2024 vs 28th - 29th Jun 2024 (date of Taylor Swift)

The prices are at least doubled for hotels close to the Avivia, and there's plenty of availability for both weekends.

If you're caught gouging, you should lose low hospitality tax rate. I think that's fair.

Was charged €2.50 for two slices of brown bread, not soda bread, but just sliced pan brown bread in a Limerick hotel to accompany my starter which wasn't soup, even Brennans or Pat the Baker full pan is cheaper

Dunnes Stores Cafe in Bishopstown Cork do a breakfast, 5 items plus tea or coffee and 2 slices of toast for 5.75 or 5.99, great bargain

...well its either free meals of they have the disposable income to do so....

...shur why not, if you ve worked for it, you can do what you want with it, and some hotel meals are bloody nice....

And that's why nothing will change. Until the public vote with their feet the prices will continue to rise

Look on booking.com for a hotel anywhere in the country for a weekend and the prices are huge but a lot of places are booked out. We just accept the increases and carry on.

Everyone has their limit though.

The "industry" is in for a bit of a shock when all the tourists aren't here to be fleeced.

Out of curiosity I checked my emails for out local Chinese takeaway. I don’t think they do price gouging but had to increase due to various cost. I always take the same thing so it is easy to compare. Price of crispy chicken satay with chips:

May 2011: 7.20€

May 2020: 9.00€

May 2023: 12:80€

That’s an initial increase of 25% in 9 years (2011-2020) and an additional increase of just over 42% only in the last 3 years (2020-2023).