Cheltenham accommodation cost rockets 350% for Festival

Cheltenham accommodation cost rockets 350% for Festival compared to just 18% rise for Dublin Racing Festival visit

A stay in Cheltenham increases by over £2,000 (€2,326) for the racing, while Ireland capital increases prices by just £156 (€181) for the Dublin Racing Festival.

Data analysed by BoyleSports, who offer the latest Cheltenham odds, has revealed the cost of accommodation for the Cheltenham Festival increases by 341% compared to the cost of the equivalent stay in the three weeks before racing.

The average cost of a three-night stay in Cheltenham during the Festival, March 12-15, rockets to £2,838 from an average of £644 for the same days in the three weeks prior.

The eye-watering increase in the cost of Cheltenham accommodation is further magnified when compared with the Dublin Racing Festival, which barely registers an increase.

The cost of a stay in Ireland’s capital during the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown only increases by 18%.

The average cost of staying in Dublin on DRF weekend, February 3-4, is £184.55, only an 18% rise of the average of £156.69 in the three weeks before.

BoyleSports calculated the average cost of a one-room stay in Cheltenham and Dublin on the same days as The Festival and DRF, Tuesday-Friday and Saturday night, during racing and the three weeks prior on the same days.

Speaking to BoyleSports, legendary Irish trainer Noel Meade said

“Horse Racing Ireland and trainers have worked hard to create a great product where the best always take on the best.

He said:

“I think the conscious decision by Horse Racing Ireland and their race planning and the way they put the programme together has paid off. That has been a huge advantage for trainers to get to where the sport is at the moment. We have the races to run the horses in and that is what is attracting the English horses over here and that is why the top horses are here now.

“We don’t have as many tracks. We have good races. The two or three day Festivals that have been developed in a row have been great to see. You can’t be ducking and diving in Ireland!”

Context

The Dublin Racing Festival was launched in 2018 and features eight Grade One races across the Saturday and Sunday of racing. Its location in the calendar, the first weekend of February, allows trainers the perfect opportunity to trail their Cheltenham stars and the competitive racing and cheaper prices has led to more nad 

Hundreds of thousands of racing fans will descend on Cheltenham during the Festival, with many staying in the town centre and others nesting in the surrounding towns due to the soaring cost of accommodation.

The average cost of staying in Cheltenham for the Festival, £2,383, is almost four times the price that was paid for multiple Grade One winner, Hewick, who is 16/1 with BoyleSports to win the Gold Cup and £350,000 accompanying prize money.

Alternatively, punters could instead spend their money on a four night stay in a five-star resort in the Maldives during the Festival week and still have change compared to what they’d spend on a Cotswolds stay.

Data

Average cost of accommodation in Cheltenham
Date of stay	Cost		% increase
Feb 20-23	£612	£644 (avg)	340%
Feb 27-1	£621
March 5-8	£699
March 12-15	£2,838

Average cost of accommodation in Dublin
Date of stay	Cost		% increase
Jan 13-14	£145	£157 (avg)	18%
Jan 20-21	£157
Jan 27-28	£168
Feb 3-4	£185

Methodology

– Data from Booking.com was scraped on the 5th January looking at one room places to stay for the given dates. 

– The prices given are the total for the full stay and these were taken as either then mean average of all the total stay costs. 

– The mean average is used to give an overall picture of the distribution of different stay prices available.

– All information is correct as of 5th January 2024