Galway hoteliers defend bed costs after new survey

The Irish Hotels Federation has defended the record of Galway hotels in providing good value for money in the face of a survey which shows rooms in the city are dearer than most top European destinations including Barce-lona, Amsterdam, Rome, Madrid and even London. For the third year in a row, Galway hotel prices are the highest in Ireland at an average of €110 per room a night.This is despite a 26% fall in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, according to the latest figures released in the hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPI). Galway was 39% more expensive than Cork, where the average room cost €79, and 45% dearer than Dublin, where the average room on the website fetched €76. The capital of the west was also a whopping 70% above Limerick, which had the cheapest city hotel rooms in the country.Dublin experienced the steepest price fall of any of the major European cities, along with Barcelona where hotel prices slumped by 27% and room rates averaged at €76 per night, compared to €105 a year previous.As a nation, Ireland experienced the largest drop in hotel prices of the major European countries (down 26% on the same period last year), ahead of Norway and Austria which experienced a hotel price drop of 24% and 23% respectively.The average price of €80 paid for a hotel room in Ireland in the first six months of 2009, compared to €108 paid for the same period in 2008, also made Ireland the least expensive Western European nation, following the three Eastern European nations of Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic where the lowest hotel rooms prices were recorded in the Eurozone.The survey tracks the real prices paid per hotel room rather than advertised rates. It is based on the money handed over by customers on booking over the website for 78,000 hotels across 13,000 locations around the world.Paul Gill, chairman of the Galway branch of the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF|) said in real terms revenue for Galway hotels was down by closer to 40%, with figures due out this month showing a 12% drop in footfall into the city.“We don’t feel we’re price gouging. We do feel we’re offering good value for money, if we weren’t people wouldn’t be coming. Around 60% of business to Galway hotels is repeat business so we’re doing something right,” the owner of the Claregalway Hotel stated.He also pointed out that there were more four-star hotels in Galway than in other cities, which would distort the figures. There was also a massive increase in the availability of hotels rooms in other cities over the last three years compared to Galway - in Limerick availability has increased by 100% (1,000 rooms to 2,200); in Cork there has been a 60% jump, while in Dublin the hike was 48%. During the same period availability in Galway has gone up 15-20%, with a number of hotels such as the Corrib Great Southern and the Sacre Coeur closing down.“In Galway most of the hotels are owner-operated so we put a lot of pride into our hotels, our service is very personal, which may not be the same for internationally branded hotels,” he enthused.“I think getting a four-star room on a Saturday night in the city for €120 is exceptional value.” And Mr Gill urged punters wishing to book accommodation in Galway to go directly to hotel websites rather than booking through Hotels.com, which charges a commission of 25%.