GARTH BROOKS FANS looking for accommodation in Dublin, after any of the country music superstar’s concerts in Croke Park next month, face paying hundreds of euro for a hotel room or steep prices to share a hostel dorm with multiple other guests.

Brooks will play to hundreds of thousands of people across five nights in September (9,10,11, 16 and 17). The scramble for tickets when the gigs went on sale last year was matched by a scramble for beds and now the vast majority of rooms in the capital are sold out.

A survey of Booking.com prices today revealed that around 90% of rooms on the accommodation site are no longer available on four of the five gig nights.

Sunday 11 September (the only Sunday gig) was the quietest night on the accommodation front, as only 77% of beds were sold.

The high demand has pushed Dublin’s infamous hotel prices even higher, with some rooms 40% more expensive compared with the weekend after the gigs (September 23-25).

The cheapest private hotel room available within five kilometres of the city centre across any of the five nights was €333 and the average price was over €500.

The price of hostels has also been dramatically impacted, with some establishments charging around €50 extra when Brooks is in town.

This spike leaves guests paying an average of €128 to stay in a dormitory alongside multiple other people.

One establishment was charging €212 per night for one bed in an eight-bed mixed dorm. The survey found the average hostel bed price the weekend after the concerts was €86.

‘Ludicrous’

The exorbitant accommodation prices have left country music lovers scrambling for alternatives, with many deciding to travel home after the gig.

Áine Máire Ní Cathaill from Tipperary, who describes herself as “obsessed” with Garth Brooks, is going to two of the 60-year-old’s concerts. She tried to get a hotel room but was turned off by the cost.

“The cheapest was €330 about 10 kilometres outside of Dublin. Some hotels have the cheek to ask for €1,000 and more. In a time where people are on their knees with the cost of living rising drastically and kids going back to school. It’s ludicrous,” Ní Cathaill told The Journal.

“A friend of mine has reached out to a cousin in Dublin so we are staying there on the 10th for Garth. And on the 16th Sept I’ll drive home after the gig. I couldn’t justify the cost.”

The journey to and from Clonmel will leave Áine Máire spending nearly five hours travelling, but it’s a price she’s willing to pay to see the country music icon.

“You have no idea how obsessed I am with Garth Brooks. He was my whole childhood and teenager years. His music does something to my soul. I get lost in his music. I last saw him in Croke Park in 1997 after queueing for ages,” she said.

‘Price gouging’

Dermott Jewell of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland acknowledged that inflation has impacted the hospitality sector but said some in the industry are guilty of “price gouging”.

“Exceptionally high pricing, at times and occasions such as this, does little to encourage either a return to the hotel or to our country, if visiting,” Jewell said.

“It is not only businesses that are in financial straits but the majority of consumers… Price gouging, which is a reality in certain – not all – cases, damages our message of welcome and the sincerity of it,” he added.