– A man will live here because he lost his original hotel room. The hotel just canceled it and posted it at multiple times the price. That’s what Ole Stokke says. He is the rental manager at the Nordic church in Liverpool and says that he has received desperate inquiries from Eurovision supporters who had booked hotel rooms at normal prices early on. Ole Stokke rents out a room in the basement of the Nordic church in Liverpool. Here he receives guests who have experienced that the hotels they had booked rooms at have canceled them in order to rent them out at a much higher price. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / news He offers a total of ten beds in bunk beds in the basement of the church, which was once the Scandinavian sailors’ church in the city. He believes the city’s sky-high hotel prices give Liverpool a bad reputation. – But you also double the prices, news points out. – Yes, but only from 25 to 50 pounds per night, he replies. 30,000 for one night The prices for accommodation in Liverpool are multiplied when the final of the Eurovision Song Contest is held. When news does a search on Booking.com for accommodation on the night of the final, the prices in the city center are between NOK 3,700 and 52,000. What a night. The average price for that night at Booking.com and Airbnb is over NOK 30,000, writes local newspaper Liverpool Echo. A night in the sailor’s church costs £50 – double the normal price of £25. It is still a cheap price tag in a city where hotel prices have exploded. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / news – We must have paid thousands of pounds for accommodation that weekend, says Jake Leaff. news meets him and Beth Owen in the Eurovision city a few weeks before the circus breaks loose. Yellow Eurovision posters with blue lettering adorn the city. It was Ukraine who won last year, but the war makes it impossible to hold the final there. In the second week of May, Liverpool will therefore host the semi-finals and final. But not everyone is lucky enough to join. The two will instead have to watch the final on TV at home in Wales. – I don’t understand how they get away with it, says Beth Owen in frustration. Beth Owen and Jake Leaff would like to experience the Eurovision final in Liverpool, but hotel prices are far too high. Photo: HÅVARD BLEKASTAD ALMÅS / news Hotel employees despair Hotel owners and landlords are probably rubbing their hands, but not everyone involved thinks the price increase is acceptable. The receptionist at one of the city’s budget hotels shakes her head when news asks about the sky-high price level. Eurovision posters adorn the center of Liverpool. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / news – I don’t think it’s fair to people who want to visit Liverpool. The prices have been pushed up because of Eurovision. Virtually all the hotels here do it, he says, who also have to ask the guests for multiple sums for the night in question. Even the youth hostels are expensive. Where a bunk bed in a dormitory normally costs NOK 450, people have paid NOK 1,600 for such a bunk bed on the night of 13–14. May. But now that too is sold out. The only thing available just under four weeks before the final is a full six-person room for over NOK 9,000. Liverpool is looking forward Stokke is among those who are not looking forward to the Eurovision circus coming to town. But even on a rainy day, it’s easy to find people who can’t wait for it all to start. In the basement here, accommodation is offered at a cheaper price than what the hotels in Liverpool offer during Eurovision. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / news Married couple Annette and David Timton think it is fantastic that the final will be held in Liverpool. They promise on behalf of the city to put on a good show. But they also think it is wrong for the hotels to raise prices as much as they do. – It is not correct. The event should be for most people, says David Timton. Around the neck of TikToker Shafeen Mahmood hangs a fake accreditation certificate for the Eurovision Song Contest. He interviews people about the melody contest for his social media profile. – I am a big Eurovision fan. I am very excited, he says. And considers himself happy that he lives in Liverpool and doesn’t have to pay for accommodation. – It is madness.
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Norske Ole rents out rooms in the basement to desperate fans – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
