Hi lovely Irish people,

Something has been boggling my mind recently, maybe you can help answer. Last week I was looking o take a city break for 5 days somewhere at the end of may to beginning of june and Ireland was high on my list of places I’ve always wanted to visit and never managed, so I booked a Ryanair flight to Dublin and then (to my mistake, too late) opened the AirBnB and [Booking.com](https://Booking.com) apps to look for accommodations and my jaw dropped that I could not afford to stay there at all. Everything was 100/Euros+ per night for some Harry Potter under-the-stairs/scammy looking accommodation, and 200 Euros/month for something decent in the Dublin central area.

Of course, it’s my fault for being a complete dumbass and not checking accommodation prices *before* booking a flight, but god damn, those prices are far higher than accommodations in Berlin, Milan and other major European cities in the same calendar period, which I did not expect, as one can always find something decent in almost any city, even last minute.

So my question is, what’s happening here? Is there a tax on tourist accommodations? Is housing an issue in general in Dublin? Or is everyone in Dublin earning like an oil-rich sheikh?

I hope I don’t offend anyone with my silly question but something just feels wrong about those prices and I’m curios to know why staying in Dublin is so much more expensive than other touristic EU capitals.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Just saw the “Housing” flair, so maybe that already answers my question. If mods think this post does not belong here, I apologies and feel free to delete it.

38 comments

  4. Well if you spend a day on this sub you’d know housing situation in Ireland is shit ATM, there’s like 890 properties to rent through entire country, throw in chaos refugees, shit market, and prices here are mental, plus summer, any events and you have Dubai prices for some shallow 1rm a night.

    Maybe if you come here rent a van or just buy a tent and sleep in a park, or Wicklow mountains Smth, make it like a camping trip.

  5. Yes the flair does answer your question as does spending a bit of time in this sub. Ireland experiences a housing crisis for way to long already and any and all accommodations ( including hotels, hostels) are extremely expensive

  7. Housing shortage in this country at the moment. Were you looking at a weekend that there was a concert or major sporting event maybe? They always lead to a further rise in prices.

  8. I wouldn’t bother visiting here unless you can stay with a friend or something, for the prices you’ll pay it’s just not worth it when compared with far superior destinations around Europe

  9. We have more tourists than hotel rooms, adding to that we are in the middle of a housing crisis and some of the homeless are housed in hotels until accommodation can be found for them. Added to that the Ukrainian refugees are also getting housed in hotels until accommodation can be found.

    Try pigsback.com usually good deals to be found on that.

  10. That’s also a bank holiday weekend with a fair few events on with people needing or* choosing to stay over. Supply and demand like

  11. Tourists booking Airbnbs… the rental stock in Dublin went up by 90% in lockdown when landlords had to rent to long term tenants. You should book a year in advance.

  12. Some genuine reasons for the high price.

    During thenoandemic many shot term properties switched to long term rentals reducing Airbnb properties.

    There are quite a few events happening in Dublin recently. Every week there seems to be matches or big gigs on.

    Our hotels are used for Ukrainian refugees and some social housing, reducing availability.

    Hotels costs have increased.

    Influx of a lot tourists adding to the demand. Like yourself.

    Some other reasons are Hoteliers are quite greedy and doing anything to screw the consumer.

    Sorry for your troubles OP hope you do get here and have a good time.

  13. Going up in two weeks. Have a twin room got for myself and a pal for €100, booked it months ago, before Christmas I think.

    Anyway, another lad has decided to join us for the gig, so were looking to get a triple room. Some ok prices, but too far out of town. After that it’s as you said €100 each for a bunk in a 12 bed hostel dorm, or €400+ for a triple hotel room. FUCK THAT.

  15. I recently booked some nights in Barcelona for next month. Shit is as crazy as Dublin now. Barca used to be dead cheap.

  17. With Airbnb you are dealing with house hoarding cunts who are more than happy to whack up the price of their shithole under the pretence of a pricing/renting crisis.

    It’s just old fashioned greed. If they can’t get away with it they will stop, but that won’t happen soon. Even relatively poor people on this sub defend this sort of behaviour.

  19. People constantly opposing the building of things like bike lanes, pedestrianised streets, public transport, housing and hotels -> things that will make our city better in other words.

    Until that’s sorted, Dublin will continue to be an extremely expensive city to visit (and to live in). It won’t be sorted over a summer anyway.

    My advice would be to maybe go to Cork or Belfast and come to Dublin on a day trip. Same issues exist in Cork and Belfast but on a much lesser scale and are within a relatively doable (and cheap) bus or train ride from Dublin.

  21. There is a staff shortage, which means a lot of hotels aren’t selling their full allotment of rooms cause they don’t have enough housekeeping to turn them over. This creates an artificial shortage that drives up the price.

  25. Unlike most other countries, Ireland really doesn’t have “business hotels”. Almost all are “experience hotels”. You’re not just paying for accommodation, you’re paying for all the additional facilities too.

    If you’re just looking for accommodation try Jurys or Premier Inn. They’re “business hotels”, just accommodation (and no need to book months in advance).

  28. The government is deliberately maximizing the price of housing and rent for the mutual benefit of themselves and the class of people they serve.

  29. Probably better off getting on to Ryanair and changing your flight to a different location if the fee is the same you’ll only have to pay admin fee. Definitely find cheaper accommodation in other cities

  31. It’s always been very expensive to stay in hotels in Ireland but it’s gotten worse recently as demand is so high with people able to travel again. You could try staying outside the cities, it doesn’t take very long to get places especially if you rent a car, or if you stay somewhere with a direct train line to Dublin like Athlone you can do Dublin in some day trips. The west coast is a much nicer holiday than a trip to Dublin, especially that time of the year where you actually might get some sun, but renting a car is almost essential to make the most of it.

  32. You might be better off flying Into Dublin but spending your time in another part of the country. Have a look at places like Galway, dingle, Waterford, cork etc the west is really nice if your going for the whole green fields and nature aspect of ireland

  33. Besides all the other stuff theres a cultural entitlement by the young demographic of Dublin where they believe they shouldn’t be expected to live outside of Dublin.

    Its not uncommon to find people who won’t even consider living outside the M50 (main Dublin motorway).

    Often the reason given for this is that they work in the city. (sometimes thats true, sometimes its just inconvenient to their lifestyle and they feel they shouldn’t be inconvenienced).

    Often the reason given by employers for not setting up outside Dublin is that theres not enough local employees/housing/infrastructure.

    And so feedback loop.

  37. Don’t visit Dublin. Seriously. Its absolutely shit. Nothing to recommend it. Go to a good city instead. Go to Edinburgh.

  38. The country is full of pen pushers. Who think housing will just appear and want it free. People are above labor apparently

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