Prices spiral as Edinburgh gears up for Rolling Stones

TENS of thousands of revellers are set to descend on the capital for The Rolling Stones this Saturday '“ but it has emerged that many will be forced to pay an arm and a leg to get here.
The Rolling Stones are set to play Edinburgh this weekendThe Rolling Stones are set to play Edinburgh this weekend
The Rolling Stones are set to play Edinburgh this weekend

Scores of hotels across the city have raised their prices in anticipation of a fan influx, with many increasing prices for single and double rooms by hundreds of pounds.

The cheapest price available for a single room at the Raddison Blu Hotel on the Royal Mile at time of writing was £507, over 67 per cent higher than the lowest figure available for the following Saturday.

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Similarly, the west end’s Hampton Hotel was charging rooms upwards from £344, a 94 per cent difference from this Saturday to the following weekend.

Elsewhere, agencies were charging double the normal price for rooms in the Britannia Hotel and the Holiday Inn on Corstorphine Road.

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It is not only hotels who have raised prices – Murrayfield Park Guest House, also on Corstorphine Road, said costs had inflated due to the overwhelming demand.

Nadia, hostess at the guest house, said: “It’s very, very busy this weekend. Rooms were booked up here a long, long time ago and we’ve had a record number of calls. Our price was reasonably low, but of course we had to change when we realised the concert was on.”

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A report by property firm GVA showed average hotel rates in Edinburgh have hit £100 per night.

Ron Rothanner at the budget Twin Lions hotel said the price for a single room remained above that at £116 but the rate had not been increased due to the gig influx.

He said: “We’ve been booked up pretty much since the moment the concert was made public and had constant calls, but we didn’t put any prices up and have kept things standard for customers.”

B&Bs and guesthouses in the Murrayfield area have been booked up for several months, but some managers expressed frustration at the effect of costs rising for big events.

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Ian Hamilton, manager at Kew House, said: “We don’t inflate prices because it makes me uncomfortable.

“I’ve seen some horrendous rates online for the gig and I just feel sorry for the poor, innocent tourists. We never go beyond our peak price because it’s just not ethical.”

It was revealed in a PwC survey last month that hotel prices in Edinburgh were growing at three times the pace of the UK average.

But James Fraser, deputy chairman at Edinburgh Hotels Association, said he thought the prices reflected demand.

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He added: “I think the prices actually represent value for money because Edinburgh is a wonderful city. The prices reflect the quality of our wonderful attractions and the fact that global acts and big events are willing to come here.”