Uruguay: Overbooked hotels and high prices for Libertadores and Sudamericana soccer finals

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “It is confirmed” that Montevideo’s hotels “are fully booked” for the November 27 weekend, when the Libertadores Cup final soccer match will be played, said the president of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Uruguay (AHRU), Francisco Rodriguez.

The figures are similar in the departments of Canelones and Maldonado (where Punta del Este is located), leading to booking requests being sent to even more distant locations.

For the November 20 weekend, when the Copa Sudamericana soccer final will be played, “there are still vacancies,” Rodríguez said.

Both finals will feature only Brazilian teams.

Athletico Paranaense and Red Bull Bragantino (SP) will face each other for the Sudamericana on Saturday, November 20, and a week later Flamengo and Palmeiras will meet for the Libertadores final, both at the iconic Centenario stadium, undergoing renovations for the two matches.

Rio de Janeiro’s Flamengo is Brazil’s most popular club and São Paulo’s Palmeiras boasts a strong fan support too.

While Montevideo’s hotels typically have around 12,000 beds available, the pandemic has reduced that number by half.

UNUSUAL PRICE HIKE

That shortage may be offset by a vast supply of private homes on platforms such as Booking or Airbnb, but prices have unprecedentedly skyrocketed.

On Airbnb, for the weekend between November 19 and 21, prices range around US$80 per night, but from November 26 to 28 (Libertadores final), the average jumps to US$700 per day.

The Uruguayan capital will also host the final of the women’s Libertadores Cup on Sunday, November 21 at the Gran Parque Central.

Between 30,000 and 40,000 Brazilian fans are expected to flood to Montevideo during those days, although the Uruguayan authorities have not yet defined the authorized capacity for these events.

Uruguay will open its borders on November 1 to foreigners who have been fully immunized with two doses of the anti-Covid vaccine.