No room at the inn: Hotel rates spike ahead of Pope’s visit

Dubai: As Pope Francis embarks on the first-ever papal trip to the Arabian Peninsula, hotels rooms in Abu Dhabi are quickly selling out, sending prices for the remaining rooms soaring.

Francis will address a huge mass in the capital on Tuesday, February 5. The event is expected to draw some 135,000 people.

According to hotel reservation site booking.com, there has been a flurry of last-minute activity, with rooms across Abu Dhabi snapped up as Catholics descend on the city for the mass.

The Traders Hotel Qaryat Al Beri Abu Dhabi, by Shangri-La, for example, has been booked 124 times in the past 24 hours.

Elsewhere, the Ibis Abu Dhabi Gate, which is located close to the city’s largest sports stadium where the mass will be held, saw 54 bookings in the past 24 hours, according to the site.

Prices, too, have been spiking ahead of the papal visit.

A night at the Novotel Abu Dhabi Al Bustan, a four-star hotel with 361 rooms located near to the giant Zayed Sports City Stadium, was going for Dh1,050 on February 4, the day before the mass.

A week later, on Monday, February 11, the same room will cost just Dh251, a decline of 76 per cent in price.

Meanwhile, the luxurious Emirates Palace, likely to be popular with dignitaries and visiting officials, will cost Dh5,750 the night before the event. The following Monday, a room will cost Dh1,902, almost 67 per cent cheaper than the week before.

Some hotels in the city have seen such high demand from travelling Catholics that they have sold out completely ahead of the event.

Marriott’s popular Aloft Abu Dhabi, the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas, the Centro Yas Island by Rotana, and the St. Regis Abu Dhabi, located on the Corniche, were among the hotels fully booked for Monday, February 4.