A man who was "excited" to visit Liverpool for Eurovision has slammed hotels for "ridiculous" prices.
Mircea Suciu, from London, booked The Air Host and Stay New Build home near Anfield via Booking.com, hoping to visit Liverpool for the Eurovision weekend. Being a life-long fan of the contest, he was "super excited" and soon began to look for accommodation.
Having found a room at a "standard rate" of around £500 for two nights, Mircea told the ECHO he couldn't believe his luck to have found somewhere that "refused to put the prices up". But the next day, he said he received a message from the owners to say there had been an "error".
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He said: " They basically said it was an error that they had listed the property for their normal rate for that weekend, and offered to honour the booking if I paid £1,000 per night instead, suggesting this would be a huge discount."
He added: "It wasn't even central, I booked it straight away and I wanted to say thank you because they weren't profiteering. The next day I woke to a message to say there had been a mistake.
"They said they would give me a huge discount which would be a good price considering the weekend. But when I contacted Booking.com I was basically told it was a good price.
"They were now trying to charge five times more. They are trying to profiteer. They told me they've suffered because of the pandemic and Eurovision offered them hope."
Having declined the offer, Mircea, originally from Romania, said he is still "hoping" and looking for a hotel that won't increase their prices a "ridiculous" amount. He blasted owners for "profiteering" during what is expected to be a busy weekend.
He said: "It's a competition I've been watching as a kid, I couldn't wait as soon as I heard it was coming to the UK. But I haven't given up on it yet, it would be a dream.
"Every day I still look and check. It was disappointing. My faith in humanity had been restored when I saw they didn't go for the profiteering route. But it seems they are allowed to do it."
The message to Mircea from the owners of the room, said there had been a "huge error by having the property open for this date" as it went on to say: "It looks like a problem with our software as we were hoping for a longer booking at an increased rate. We don't want to be greedy and charge thousands like our competitors, however, we do need to charge a reasonable rate given the dates you have booked."
Another message read that Eurovision offered a "slight glimmer of hope" after the property has "not made any money" in the last two years. Air Host and Stay has been approached for comment.
A spokesperson for Booking.com said: "At Booking.com we understand that there is huge interest and excitement around the Eurovision Song Contest coming to Liverpool in 2023. While hotels and other accommodations are in complete control of the availability and prices they list on Booking.com, if a customer does have any issues with a booking then our customer service team is available 24/7 to support.
"This is a great opportunity for properties in Liverpool to showcase their City and be part of ensuring all fans have a positive experience, which starts when they book their accommodation at a great rate. We always actively monitor for any fraudulent activity and can take action as needed, including suspending or removing a property from our platform."
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