Pol O'Conghaile, a travel writer and expert who writes for the National Geographic, spoke to Damien about hotel prices this morning.

Hotel prices were up 15% in May this year compared to May 2019.

Pol said this could be because hotels are trying to pay staff more in order to keep them, and because of the increased cost of food, electricity, and other necessary supplies.

The two agreed that they have been seeing a decline in the number of expensive items such as steaks on hotel menus.

Lack of rooms?

There are roughly 550 hotel rooms in Waterford City but not all of them are available because the hotels don't have the staff to accommodate them. Pol believes this is damaging the reputation of hotels.

Pol questioned whether there is a shortage of hotel rooms in the country, and touched on how 15% of rooms in Dublin are contracted by the state.

They briefly mentioned Air BnB and how that is affecting the rental market in Ireland.

Pol's positivity

On a positive note, Pol discussed how holidays are good for the soul, despite being bad for the wallet, leaving Damien questioning whether the joy of a holiday is taken away when you are paying such high prices.

To listen to the full conversation, click the link in this podcast.

For more Déise podcasts, click here.