A YORK hotel which is charging £2,700 for a five-night package during Royal Ascot has almost sold out.

Only a dozen rooms at the 108-bedroom Marriott Hotel, which has a plum position overlooking York Racecourse, are still available for the prestigious event next June.

Most of these, like the 96 already sold, will go to Ebor meeting regulars, who have first refusal on tickets until the end of August.

General manager Craig Ewan has defended the rates charged, after Royal Ascot chief executive Douglas Erskine-Crum yesterday criticised some unnamed York hotels for "scandalous" price hikes during the event.

Mr Ewan said people were entitled to their opinions, but there had not been any complaints from regulars about the £2,700 charge, which compared on a night-for-night basis with the normal fee of £1,800 for the Ebor meeting.

He said the hotel would be providing "further added value" during Royal Ascot, with guests given dinner for two on two nights, and complimentary champagne provided on top of the usual four-star breakfast. There would also be platters of fruit and other extras provided in rooms.

He said the Marriott had shown loyalty to its regular Ebor guests by offering them first refusal on Ascot tickets, but he also had a waiting list of other people who would like rooms if any were not snapped up by the regulars.

Other hotels today also defended increases in their charges, and said they had not had any adverse reaction.

June Nelsey, director of Monkbar Hotel, said: "We are putting up our prices for Royal Ascot, because accommodation in York will be at a premium. The price has gone up by £50 a night for a double room (from £140 to £190). But this is not profiteering - peoples' expectations will be very high, and we are offering a special Royal Ascot package, which we hope will give visitors a good impression of York. We have had no adverse reaction at all."

Janet Turner, at The Parsonage Country House Hotel, Escrick, said: "Our prices for Ascot are £250 per person, per night, with a minimum three-night stay - prices are for bed and breakfast. We are already about 40 per cent full, and I'm sure we'll be full by the time Ascot arrives.

"We decided at the beginning of the year to put the prices up because if we do it now, at least people will know what we're doing. Most people who're coming to Ascot go every year and that's what they pay - to them it's not extortionate, in fact some of them have said our prices are quite reasonable."

But Martin Smith, manager of Heworth Court Hotel, said: "We are not putting our prices up. We have been here for 20 years and a week's worth of ripping people off just isn't worth it for us. We are keeping our prices real for our regulars. We are already two-thirds full for Royal Ascot, so we haven't got many more rooms to fill."

Meanwhile, private hire taxi drivers in York are setting up their own association to represent their views, and the first item on the agenda will be Ascot traffic issues. Mark Wilson, of Streamline, said drivers wanted to work with City of York Council to find workable solutions to any problems.

Updated: 11:21 Wednesday, August 25, 2004