But last Thursday night such niceties no longer mattered as Dublin's once- most-fashionable hotel, The Berkeley Court, struggled to cope with the city's bargain- hunters who wanted a night at the renamed D4 Ballsbridge Hotel for a room rate of €20 a night.

It's 9.30pm and inside the lobby, with its plush royal blue and antique gold interior complete with grand piano, the hotel receptionist looks like she is about to lose her mind.

'No ma'am, all the rooms are booked out. There are no €20 rooms left,' she says politely into the phone, drawing out each word for effect.

'We are all booked up. You will have to call back again after January 25th.'

She looks exasperated. Eyes closed, she holds her hands to her face, as she answers her umpteenth call.

Like vultures circling their prey, there have been thousands of Irish watching and waiting for the next business to yield to economic pressures.

'I've been off for three days and then I come back to this,' she sighs.

'Three thousand rooms at 20 euro have already gone. It was done on a first-come, first-served basis. If you booked early you got the deal.'

Ryan Somerville, from Tallaght, was not so lucky.

He travelled in from his home in west Dublin to book a room at the south Dublin hotel.

Wearing a hoody and tracksuit bottoms, he says he wanted to book a night away for himself and his girlfriend.

'My mam told me about it after seeing an ad in the paper, so I drove in from Tallaght to check it out. I couldn't believe it at first.

'I thought it would be a run-down hotel for the price of it, but it's actually all right,' he says looking around -- vaguely impressed.

'It's actually big enough though -- I can't believe they don't have any rooms left.'

But general manager Sarah Curran is adamant that they fulfilled their promise.

'There's been a phenomenal interest in the offer and we've been flooded by thousands of calls. The rooms have been snapped up. We wanted to give something back to the customer and we're in a position to do it because we have such a large number of rooms.'

I ask her if she is concerned that the rock- bottom deal will bring down the level of clientele in what has long been known as a haven for the elite.

'Oh no,' she assures. 'We've had no issues in that regard. We're lucky that we're in a nice area.'

Still, it seems a world away from the old-style five- star hotel we once knew as the only stopping-point in town for royalty and showbusiness legends.

In its heyday, Frank Sinatra wouldn't stay anywhere else.

The hotel also played host to a number of other A-list stars, including Michael Jackson and Tom Cruise --who stayed for three months while making Far and Away.

Madonna, Elton John, Cher, Mel Gibson, Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, the king and queen of Sweden, and former South African President De Klerk all graced the opulent retreat with their presence.

Under the baleful portrait of PV Doyle, Albert Reynolds conducted meetings while he was Taoiseach, and upstairs, Fianna Fail fundraiser Des Richardson kept an office.

But now the portrait has gone, and so, it seems, have the stars.

The €20 rooms are now booked up until January 25, but will become available again until the offer ends at the end of February.

In the meantime rooms can be booked for €50 a night and, for an extra €30, all rooms can be upgraded to 'junior' suites.

The hotel is also offering three-course meals for €25.

But the former Berkeley Court is not the only bargain on offer in cut-price Ireland.

People in search of a deal can also enjoy the luxurious lounges and drawing rooms at the 13th-century Ashford Castle, hosted in Mayo, which has a multitude of royalty and foreign leaders.

In a deal that would have seemed out of the question only a year ago, customers are being offered three nights' accommodation for two adults at €175 each.

The majestic five-star Dromoland Castle in Clare, once the ancestral home of the descendants of the 11th- century High King of Ireland, Brian Boru, is also slashing its prices and offering a similar deal.

While in Dublin, all this month, Bewleys hotels are offering double, twin and single rooms at €50 a night.

The Four Seasons, in Dublin, is also offering a third night free with any two-night stay between now and April, with room rates starting at €225 per night.

Meanwhile, back in The Ballsbridge Court, a resident makes his way into the elevator wearing a bandana on his head and holding a scrunched up supermarket bag containing his belongings.

A member of staff laughs when I ask him about the new clientele and admits that 'things have changed around here'. With rooms going for the price of a takeaway at the local chipper, why wouldn't they?

&nbs