Eurovision fans have accused Liverpool landlords and accommodation owners of price gouging, as room rates for the night of the 2023 song contest soar above £5,000 a night.
The UK’s host city for the Eurovision Song Contest, taking place 13 May 2023, was announced on Saturday.
Some fans of the glitzy Euro-pop event had already booked accommodation in Liverpool before the location was announced, while others rushed to secure rooms over the weekend, causing prices to surge.
Several fans took to social media to complain about the rises, or rental apartment hosts cancelling their bookings, some suggesting it was in order to put prices up and book in new guests.
Both Liverpool and Glasgow had been contenders for the Europe-wide event, which is watched by hundreds of millions of viewers each year, but the northwest cultural hub won out in the end.
It will take place at the Liverpool M&S Bank Arena, next to the River Mersey, which has a capacity of 11,000 people.
Less than 12 hours after the location was announced, most accommodation booking sites were low on availability, with Booking.com saying 99 per cent of their listings have now sold out.
Of the remaining listings, the 10-bed Eleanor Rigby apartments on the city’s Stanley Street has surged to £5,580 on the night of the event, 13 May - £6,200 if you want flexibility on cancellation.
One fan, Connor, claimed his Booking.com host had cancelled an apartment booking he had secured in May 2022 for the Eurovision weekend, sharing screenshots that showed messages saying “the property will no longer be available on this dates [sic]” and “Apologies its error on booking calendar”.
“And the cancellations start ,” he wrote, adding a broken heart emoji, “booked this way back in May/June, too good to be true.”
According to research by The Independent, the lowest-priced double room for the night of 13 May 2023 is currently £590 for Newsham Lodge, in the Newsham Park area, with the next cheapest a room of four bunk beds for £1,262 at The Anfield Rooms.
The priciest is a 12-bedroomed house, also in Newsham Park, for £7,560 for one night (or £630 per room).
On Airbnb the cheapest option in Liverpool centre for 13 May is a U-Stay aparthotel sleeping four, for £875; the most expensive is a flat sleeping four in the Georgian Quarter for £3,567.
The director of Marketing Liverpool, Chris Brown, told the BBC that details of other Liverpool accommodation options for the week of 13 May would be released later this week.
He hinted that these may “involve cruise ships or a campsite” for fans to stay in.
