Although room rates are dropping, Kilkenny has emerged as the most expensive city in the country to stay.
Despite experiencing the highest price falls, Kilkenny has topped the list as the most expensive destination in Ireland, knocking Killarney off its perch as the dearest.
However, Kilkenny hotel room prices did fall 14 per cent in the second quarter of 2010, according to the Hotels.com Hotel Price Index (HPIx ). It now costs €123 per night on average to stay in Kilkenny compared to €143 this time last year. It now costs just €93 in the tourism hub of Killarney.
The Hotels.com Hotel Price Index is a regular survey of hotel prices in major city destinations across the world. The HPI is based on bookings made on Hotels.com and prices shown are those actually paid by customers (rather than advertised rates ) in the first half of 2010
Despite price falls, the rate at which Irish prices are falling is beginning to stabilise compared to 2009 which saw room rates drop 21 per cent year-on-year.
In the capital, hotel room prices fell 7 per cent from €78 to €73, making Dublin one of the least expensive major city destinations globally. Dublin now offers some of the best value for hotels anywhere in the world and remains the most inexpensive major city in Western Europe, well behind cities such as Rome (€114 ), London (€129 ), Copenhagen (€113 ) and Paris (€117 ).
Killarney lost its place as the most expensive place to stay in Ireland to Kilkenny. Prices in the tourist hot spot fell by 16 per cent resulting in the average room price falling to just €93 in the second quarter of 2010.
Hotel room rates in Waterford fell 11 per cent in Q2 of 2010. Hotel prices dropped from €57 to €50 making Waterford the most affordable destination in Ireland.
Sligo, and the Castlebar and Mayo area were the only two places in Ireland to experience a slight upturn. Room rates in Sligo were up five per cent from €82 to €86 while hotels in the Castlebar area saw an increase of 4 per cent bringing the average hotel room price to €77 per night.
Hotel room rates in Cork fell five per cent in the second quarter of 2010. Room rates dropped from €80 per room per night to €76 making Cork a great destination for a value break in Ireland and putting the city on par with Prague (€75 ) and Mexico City (€74 ) and Dublin (€73 ).
Seamus MacCormaic, director market management UK & Ireland at Hotels.com comments, “there is great value to be had in the hotel market across Ireland at the moment and affordability has not been this good since 2004 making Kilkenny a great destination for a break away, despite its rank as most expensive destination.”
