Ireland hotel prices on the rise?

Did you tell the hotel you were part of a RS group? That might help, but then again, it seems like all hotel prices are out the roof. And a phone call might work better than an email or computer booking.

I wouldn't be surprised. Hotel prices have escalated everywhere in the last few years, both in the US and Internationally. And Rick Steves' choices of hotels are often very nice hotels. We stayed at Buswell's in 2019 an extra night prior to our RS Tour and that price sounds about right in today's market. We are staying at a RS recommended hotel in Paris this spring, and it's 300-400 euro a night.

I checked Buswells on a random night in August, came up with $300. Did you email them or call and let them know you were with a RS tour? I can’t remember for this particular hotel but in the past, the hotels sometimes give you a RS reduced rate and also make arrangements to put you in the same room you would have for the tour so there’s no switching.

Thank you for your responses. Yes I did inform them that we were scheduled for the RS tour. Buswell’s did mention in their email response to me that they did not have a list of names from RS for the attendees on the tour. I was hoping that maybe (if) there is a discount for tour members but they don’t want to quote that price until they are certain that we are on the tour.

Dublin hotel prices are significantly higher this year than when we were there in 2022. Unfortunately, since I will be back this year.

Hi Nam:

I sent you a PM

Ann

We contacted Buswell's about a Rick Steves tour rate for May 2024. They did make an offer of €256 per night for room only or €280 with breakfast (2 adults, 2 single beds) . Our offer could easily have been different had our selected dates varied.

Ann I didn’t see the pm you sent. Could you try again?

It could be that Buswell’s rates are higher in August than in May. The 295. Euros did include a full Irish breakfast. The rate without breakfast was 271. Euros.

From all of the information on the forum that I have gathered it would seem that the rate Buswell’s quoted me isn’t that bad. I am hopeful that we will have a good experience while staying there. The reviews on the forum run the gamut with regards to Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin.

We just stayed at the Hyatt Centric in Dublin a week ago and paid $198/€189 per night including taxes, for a room with two beds. Breakfast was €14 pp. It is a very nice hotel in the heart of Dublin, 1 min walk from St Patrick’s Cathedral. For a city, and a very nice hotel, we thought the price was low.

Of course summer prices will be higher, but that’s true anywhere.

Would you consider staying somewhere else if Buswell’s is too high? We use Booking.com to find the lowest price for very nice hotels.

I checked the prices for the Hyatt Centric Dublin for a random night in August, same price as Buswells. Hotels are expensive this summer in Europe. One of the pluses to staying at Buswells before the tour is that you will not have to transfer hotels to start the tour, which I find a hassle. We have stayed there 3 times now, the first time for the RS Best of Ireland. I realize there’s been a few that do not like it, we have always had a clean quiet room and the staff went over the top with recommending restaurants and making reservations for us.

There is a great deal of value in being able to stay in the same hotel as where the tour begins. I agree that Buswell’s has a mixed bag of reviews. My sister hated it. Others rave about it.

I just checked Booking.com for a random date in August and found many highly rated hotels for $175-$200 per night.

I agree staying where the tour stays is a plus, but saving money while staying in a very nice hotel might be more important to some people.