Glasgow hotels cash in on COP26 Summit bookings as room prices shoot up

Some hotels that still have availability are jacking up prices to more than four times the normal rate for a room.

One hotel was advertising a price of £4500 a night and offered our reporter a reservation at that amount, but later claimed it was a “system error” and that the booking would have been rejected.

Most of the big hotels in the city are fully booked for the event which runs from November 9 to November 20. World leaders are expected in the city for the final few days of the summit.

READ MORE: COP could be moved to London

The big hotels around the SEC where the summit will take place, including the Crowne Plaza, Hilton Garden Inn, Radisson Red and Campanile, are all fully booked out for the two weeks from November 9. The Hilton in the city centre, Hilton Double Tree and Grosvenor Hilton in the West End are also fully booked.

Premier Inn still has some rooms available for dates during the period.

Premier Inn George Square is charging £756 for four nights from November 16 at £189 per night. However, two months earlier midweek it can be booked for just £240 for a Monday to Thursday booking – with one night priced at only £36.

The Premier Inn at Charing Cross during the COP26 will cost £179 for a night, which in September would cost £40.

The Easy Hotel in the city centre has a room available during the COP period but it will set you back £358 per night. In September it would be £104.

The Holiday Inn at the Riverside advertises three rooms left at £321 for November 17 for one night. Two months earlier it is available for just £83.

The Moxy Hotel in the Merchant City has ramped up its rates and is asking customers for £419 for the night on November 16.

It is advertised for September 14, also a Monday, at just £74, an increase of 464%.

The Hallmark Hotel close to the SEC but outside the event zone is within walking distance of the venue. It has an executive room available for a few nights during the event, which will cost £504 per night.

However, should you wish to book it two months earlier, it is available for just £162.

One search for available rooms showed an eye-watering rate of £4500 for the Saturday before the summit when many delegates would be arriving.

It’s dearer than the Dorchester and tops the Trump in New York.

The Marriott booking website was advertising between £4046 and £4500 a night for a room on November 7.

The most expensive rate we found came in at more for one night than it costs to stay in the most expensive luxury suite in the Dorchester in London, and double what Donald Trump’s New York hotel is asking for its top suite.

The four-star Marriott in Argyle Street, with views of the Kingston Bridge, Clydeside Expressway and Blythswood Court multi-storey flats, and with handy access to Anderston low-level train station, was asking £4500 for a deluxe room on Saturday November 7.

The offer is a “Prepay and Save, prepay in full, non-refundable if cancelled more than one day after booking, no changes £4500”. Breakfast is a snip at just an extra tenner.

When the Glasgow Times called the hotel to ask if the advertised rate was correct, we were told it was “because the hotel is almost fully booked and when there is a special event on in the city, rates are higher”.

The hotel group later said it was a “system error”.

A spokeswoman for Marriott Hotels said: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have reviewed this with the hotel and can confirm that the property is sold out on those dates. The rates published were due to an error on the system and this has now been rectified. Please rest assured that although the rates were visible they were not bookable, so no bookings were made at that rate.”

When repeatedly asked to confirm how much guests were paying, she added: “All guests booked into the hotel that night are paying less than £400 a night – a rate in line with other hotels in the city.

A suite in the Dorchester, London where stars including Brad Pitt and Kate Moss have stayed, for the same night would be cheaper than the £4500 price tag, coming in at £4135.

For an extra £150 you could be staying in the Chopin Suite in the Ritz in Paris at £4659. While the most expensive suite in Donald Trump’s Trump Hotel New York is available at a bargain £1953.

The Jumeirah Hotel in Dubai, billed as the “most luxurious in the world”, will offer you a panoramic ocean view suite, airport transfers and throw in breakfast and a butler for £1700 pounds less.

The next available Saturday after the summit, the Marriot can be booked for just £127. A week earlier it will cost £136 and the first available day after the summit, on November 23, it will cost just £105.