Holy COW, Dublin hotels are expensive !!

Dublin is a popular destination for both Europeans and Americans and has been for a few years now. Especially on weekends! Adding to the crunch is the surprising lack of accommodation in central Dublin to match the demand. Lack of supply+increased demand=high prices. The situation is much the same for housing for Dubliners in central Dublin as the tech industry has added higher-paying jobs in the metro area in the last decade or so.
After getting my Irish ☘️ citizenship and visiting Dublin, I was amazed at how the central Dublin neighborhoods have (thankfully) not been knocked down and replaced by high-rise condos and apartment buildings.
You might take a look at a Stay-City Aparthotel for your stay. They have several properties in the central area and rates are competitive with hotels.
Slainte Mhath and Have a great Trip!

Because of Fringe Fest maybe? Just wondered as we just had that issue for a not-very-large city in Iowa en route to a wedding. Decent hotels usually running around $120-140 or so were running $200 - $300 because of a big event in town, and it wasn't even a weekend.

Special events and conferences spike hotel rates.
Best bet is to check weekday rates or—if you must party in the Temple Bar on a weekend—check into different dates.
🇮🇪

A friend and her husband just returned from Ireland, which included Dublin.
All of the 3.5 week trip with Airbnb's.
All the Airbnb's were fantastic and more affordable than hotels.

Great point! AirB&B or VRBO ( Vacation Rentals By Owner) might also be the ticket.

I don't know your exact date, but it looks like you ran into a big concert. Garth Brooks is playing Croke Park 5 dates in mid-September. We ran into a similar issue when it turned out that our 4 times postponed trip ran into the back-to-back Ed Sheeran concerts at Croke in April when we needed to end our trip there and fly out. We had a 3 times moved our reservation at the airport Holiday Inn, which now turned out not to be reopened yet from the pandemic, and we faced similar astronomical prices for the 2 nights we needed. Luckily, HIX worked a deal with a sister hotel to take us for what we had prepaid. Out of curiousity, I just checked the Castle Hotel where we are finishing a trip in late September, and they do not show several dates in mid-September as even being available. This is the same phenomena as Munich, where hotel rates during Oktoberfest are almost triple their standard rates.

I think this reaction is applicable to most European cities over the current season.

I did hear about Garth and wondered -- but I had already checked the dates, and we are there before my fellow Okie.

I don't plan on partying in Temple Bar, but just to re-see some of Dublin and catch up with a longtime friend. Since we both have to work for a living, a weekend with a day off on either end is about what we can manage.

Thanks for listening to me rant !!

Kim,

I ran into the same problem booking a hotel for the night before our flight home from Dublin. I booked a Sunday night at a hotel airport and the rate was two times higher than a Tuesday night stay. I am guessing that weekend rates are much, much higher than weekdays.

You might try looking at B&Bs and guesthouses on the north side of the Liffey River, around Lower Gardiner street. I found somewhat less expensive options there (back in 2018). Unfortunately, the place I stayed, Anchor House, seems to have permanently shut down during Covid there were a number of B&Bs on the block and nearby. The area is considered a little grittier than more fashionable tourist areas, but I found it perfectly safe and very convenient. I was able to walk everywhere.

We arrive in Dublin on August 21 and are staying at the Maldron Hotel Parnell Square for €150 per night. Airport hotels are crazy expensive. The best I could do in early September before we fly to Edinburgh was the Clayton Hotel Dublin Airport for €198 for one night. I don’t think I’ve ever spent that much on a hotel room in my life. I like Airbnb or VRBO. They are usually less expensive and you get more space. Good luck!

We had the exact same experience as you Kim, we considered going to Dublin last Sept and again this Sept, both times we decided No because of hotel prices.

Dublin IS expensive, for sure.

We stayed here last month: https://www.staycity.com/dublin/chancery-lane/ It was small for the price, but the location was good, and having a bit of a kitchenette saved us some $$.

Premier Inn Airport is 82.50 euro (pay on arrival) for a random day in September (Sept 19)

I am not shy about staying in hostels. If you book far enough in advance you can get private or double rooms with en suites. No, not fancy, but clean, safe and inexpensive. I stayed at Abbey Court near the O’Connell Bridge in Dublin pre-COVID. A double at the back was very quiet. Hostels aren’t for all travelers, but when I just want a place to sleep, they work for me. I am of retirement age and not out of place - everyone from retirees, families with small children and back-packing young people can be found at hostels. Another good option in Dublin during the summer is Trinity College. They rent dorm rooms.

Indeed, we are staying in a hostel in Copenhagen in July, and I’ve done so in the past three years in Norway and in Stockholm. But always in a private room. I'm just not going to subject five other people to my snoring.

Anyone still looking for a less expensive option take a look at the brand new StayCity Aparthotels Dublin City Centre on Little Mary St. They open Sept 5th - I just happened upon them on Booking.com and booked 3 night for 480 euros - by far the cheapest I've found for Thurs/Fri/Sat at the end of September.

Also, like Mark mentioned, I was also able to book the Premier Inn at the airport fir 82 euros for our final night.

Hopefully this helps someone! I know I was stressing big time.

I find Dublin and most of the UK basically prohibitively expensive. I don’t find it a destination that’s worth spending 200+ USD a night on a hotel or Airbnb. Just my two cents.

I’m unfortunately having to go back in sept for a wedding and it’s adding up very quickly

You've not travelled the USA then- currently paying $250/night in SF - at a 2 star - its fine but not luxury. We were paying $170 in Waikik but only because I booked back in Jan - booking a few weeks out it was over $400

If you want cheaper look at private rooms in hostels or BNBs

We had the same issue when trying to book a hotel the Friday night before our flight out of Dublin on Saturday, September 17. I saw the prices for the hotels around the airport were incredibly high and couldn't figure out why! Ended up booking an airbnb in Mahilde for a fairly reasonable price. Now I have to figure out how to get from Mahilde to the airport on Saturday morning.

It seems like hoteliers around the world are trying to make up for revenues lost during the peak of COVID, and then some. It's especially disturbing since many are still not providing housekeeping, yet still charging outrageous rates. But, as long as travel-starved people are willing to pay, high rates will likely continue.

Currently sitting in my €200/night hotel in Cork. It's decent, but it's the kind of room that I would have paid half as much more pre-2022. I might have got a better deal if I'd booked further in advance as I did for my Kinsale hotels, but I was thinking Cork is a big city (for Ireland), it was a mid-week stay, and how bad could it be 6 weeks out? Ugh.

Almost stayed at a certainly nicer more modern hotel which had a deep discount that ended up being the same, but their breakfasts were €30 compared with €12.50 here. Now I'm like, who even care about breakfast? I should've brought a bunch of Kind bars and taken the nicer hotel. Oh well, this one has "charm" I guess.

Just booked Premier Inn (refundable) for late September and it’s now 130€ plus a small fee for the airport shuttle.