A hotel in every village?

[YellowRedGreen]

One of my favorite quotes from FF was that it was great that we now have a hotel in every village as a result of the boom years. This story undermines that theory somewhat as it now appears that, as a result of ridiculous over capacity issues, hoteliers (previously an honorable profession, now just a hobby of builders) want the clawback mechanisms in the tax breaks to be removed so that hotels can temporarily be redesignated for other uses.

I'm tempted to suggest where they should get off, but it is clear that these tax breaks have caused a serious distortion in this market. Hotels that should close down are being kept open by any means necessary. What is the most economically efficient way of dealing with this issue?

RTÉ Business: 20% overcapacity in hotel sector

[cactusflower]

Strictly speaking, a wrecking ball.

[locke]

Increasing tourist numbers by 25%?

[Twin Towers]

Strictly speaking, a wrecking ball.

Irelands climate will be that wrecking ball. Apparently a home, hotel or any detached development left empty for more than a couple of years will be rendered uninhabitable anyway.

[CookieMonster]

there should never have been tax breaks to build these things in the first place. But letting them go to waste is, well... wasteful.

[slx]

Could some of them be used as prisons ? We need something to replace mountjoy ...

Many of the budget hotels that went up should be almost to the correct standards once you install some bars on the windows etc.

A more serious option might be nursing homes.

[JCSkinner]

Still no hotel in one city in Europe.
Can anyone guess which one?

[Odyessus]

Still no hotel in one city in Europe.
Can anyone guess which one?

Vatican City?

[JCSkinner]

Vatican City?

Nope. The answer's actually an Irish city.

[CookieMonster]

Could some of them be used as prisons ? We need something to replace mountjoy ...

Many of the budget hotels that went up should be almost to the correct standards once you install some bars on the windows etc.

A more serious option might be nursing homes.

The Budget hotels are the ones that are still making money.

I stayed in Dublin City last week. I usually stay in the Burlington (which is a budget hotel now) and there is always a good enough crowd in it. I stayed in La Stampa (which is a "luxury boutique hotel") and there was nobody in it but me and 2 other guests. I had a drink in the Westbury and it was dead as a dodo too.