Liverpool FC News: 98% of Europa League final beds in Dublin already booked

A staggering 98% of hotel accommodation in Dublin city centre for the night of the Europa League final is already booked up, over two months out from what could be potentially Jurgen Klopp’s final match in charge of Liverpool. 

The Reds are through to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, where they face Atalanta over two legs. Should they come through that tie then two matches against either Benfica or Marseille await in the semi-finals. 

The Europa League is the only trophy Klopp is yet to win as Liverpool manager and an Aviva Stadium send-off featuring a trophy win would be the ultimate way to bring the curtain down on his near nine-year spell at Anfield. 

As it stands, the Reds are strong favourites to at least make it as far as Dublin.

However, accommodation chaos is threatening to ruin what could be Liverpool’s big night. 

Current city-centre hotel occupancy rates are already at 98% for the night of the final, Wednesday 22 May, with the remainder of available prices out of reach for many supporters, even beds in shared accommodation. 

Dublin is a small city by international hotel standards with around 24,000 beds in the Irish capital. It has been estimated by one recent report that its usual bed occupancy rates stand at 83.4%. 

When an event such as the Europa League final or a big concert rolls into town, it has the effect of throttling hotel availability and pushing prices sky high. 

A bed in an eight-person mixed dormitory with a shared bathroom and toilet is currently listed on Booking.com for £263 and there are precious few spaces of any kind left. 

A search on the website revealed one double room available in the city centre for £496. At the time of writing there were only TWO MORE hotel rooms available in the entire city centre, at £727 and £846 per night respectively. 

Some of the hotels searchable through Google with rooms available on the night of the game, a Wednesday, are asking for a minimum two or three-night booking. With prices at around £300 per night, that means an outlay of around £1000 for a three-night booking. 

Other available accommodation is in the hinterlands, at Dublin Airport and beyond, with beds available in neighbouring counties like Wicklow and Kildare.

The picture on Airbnb is not much rosier with only around 300 beds still available for the night of the final, with many of those in Dublin’s suburbs and on the outskirts.

Dublin's hotel 'calamity'

“There is a calamity every time there is a Taylor Swift concert or something like that and room prices go through the roof,” Mitchell McDermott CEO, Paul McDermott, told the Irish Independent in January upon the publication of the Mitchell McDermott Annual Construction Sector Report. 

“Whenever there’s a big concert or game on in the city it is impossible to get a hotel room simply due to supply and demand. 

“Dublin has an 83.4% occupancy rate, the highest across 35 European countries. There is also the fact that some existing hotels have been taken out of general public use for refugees and international protection.”

Failte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, recently disclosed that around one in eight registered tourism beds is now in use by public contracts to accommodate Ukrainian refugees and international protection applicants. 

The figure is sure to be an undershoot considering the number of non-registered beds that are also in use. 10% of Dublin tourist beds are currently contracted to the government. 

Ireland's huge Liverpool fanbase

Ireland boasts a huge Liverpool fanbase and that’s before consideration is given to fans travelling from the UK and overseas. 

It is going to be a disappointing night for many of the club’s fans should they reach the final with only around 13,000 tickets reportedly available for each team’s fans inside the Aviva Stadium. 

A fan zone at Dublin Castle in the city centre will be quickly clogged up and plans are afoot to convert Croke Park, a Gaelic Games stadium of over 83,000 capacity, into an additional fan zone. 

Even that won’t be enough given the number of fans sure to descend on the city in the event of Liverpool making it to the final.