Liverpool hotel relists £255 room for £1,988 after cancelling Eurovision fan's booking
ITV News Consumer Editor Chris Choi on why hotels hiking prices during Eurovision has left a sour note for fans
Eurovison fans hoping to travel to Liverpool have had their original hotel bookings cancelled - only for the hotel to advertise the room for hundreds of pounds more, ITV News can reveal.
One fan told ITV News he had his £250 room cancelled and had seen it being advertised for £1,988 - a move which experts say is legal.
Liverpool was named as Eurovision host city last week, standing in for 2022 winners Ukraine.
Liverpool, which is twinned with the Ukrainian city of Odesa, faced Glasgow in the final run-off after a list of 20 candidates was whittled down by the BBC and European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which produces the annual event.
It is the first time it has been held in the UK for quarter of a century and there's huge demand for tickets and accommodation.
But fans hoping to travel to Liverpool for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest have been left dismayed at the prices.
One apartment in Liverpool selling for around £900 a night the weekend before, is now advertised at £1,999 for Eurovison night.
Another leaps from £373 a night to £2,665, according to Booking.com, while a five bed Victorian terrace house on Airbnb doubles from £2,000 to £4,000 for Eurovison night.
Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Culture and Visitor Economy, Cllr Harry Doyle asked people to be patient with hotel bookings.
He wrote: "I’m disappointed with some accommodation providers who have hiked prices.
"That’s normal apparently after the initial announcement.
"We had planned for this and are looking at alternative arrangements including a cruise ship and camp sites."
A spokeswoman for Booking.com said: “We always actively monitor for any fraudulent activity and can take action as needed, including suspending or removing a property from our platform.”