The things we do for our county…
After two championships with plenty of excitement, some good games and some not-so-good games, the odd scrap and some dodgy Hawkeye decisions, the line-ups for both All-Ireland Finals have been decided.
Next weekend, Limerick will face Kilkenny in a repeat of the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final, while on Sunday week in the football championship, Galway will take on Kerry in first final between the counties since the year 2000.
With both games set to be sellouts, and with fans travelling from across the country, hotels are quickly filling up with people hoping to see their home county taste ultimate glory, with a night in the capital ahead of the game thrown in for good measure.
Alas, as we’ve all seen and heard in recent months, especially in relation to Dublin, increase in demand unfortunately means an increase in price, and it’s no different for the next two weekends.
Despite more and more hotels being built across the city, there still doesn’t seem to be enough room for everyone heading up to Dublin.
According to Booking.com, for example, the cheapest place for a family of two adults and two children attending this weekend’s hurling final to stay the Saturday night before the game (16 July) will cost €279 at minimum, putting the total cost with tickets for €80 each included at nearly €600.
Those looking to live it up in a five-star hotel for this weekend, meanwhile, could pay anywhere between €858 and €1,260.
For two adults travelling to the hurling, if you’re prepared to stay in an apartment hotel, it’ll cost you €199, while a hotel room will cost €220 minimum.
Most hotels on Booking.com fall between the €300 – €400 range this weekend, with top range hotels costing upwards of €630.
Kerry and Galway fans will unfortunately see even higher rates the following weekend if they want to stay the night in Dublin before witnessing the conclusion of the race for the Sam Maguire.
A family of four staying for the Saturday before the game (23 July) would pay €494 at minimum for a hotel room, which, with tickets, would bring the total cost of bringing the family to the game at €814.
Most hotels for the night before the football final cost between €500 and €900, with those looking to stay in the lap of luxury in a five-star hotel looking at spending between €1,121 and €1,420 to attend the game. With tickets thrown in, that’s a total of between €1,441 and €1,740 for accomodation for the night.
Two adults can get a room for €254 at the cheapest, but most hotels cost between €300 and €600.
But it’ll be well worth it if *insert county here* win, right?
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