Only 550 rooms still available 10 months before start of sport extravaganza
Damian Inwood
Province
Simon Pettigrew, general manager of the Four Seasons Hotel, poses in the hotel lobby in Vancouver yesterday. All 372 rooms have been pre-booked by VANOC for the 2010 Olympics. Photograph by: Gerry Kahrmann, The Province
Most Vancouver hotels already have “no-vacancy” signs up when it comes to renting rooms for the 2010 Olympics.
In fact, a report going to city council Tuesday says that a scant 550 rooms are still available, 10 months from the start of the Winter Games.
And, says the council report, that leaves about 210,000 ticket-holders who’ll be needing to find somewhere to stay.
“In terms of managing expectations, there won’t be a lot of downtown hotel rooms available because, if there were, we’d be trying to buy them for clients right now,” admitted Terry Wright, Vancouver 2010’s head of operations.
“It’s more likely [spectators] will be in the suburbs or they’ll be in somebody’s spare bedroom or in a furnished apartment rental.”
City planners are recommending that council pass a bylaw that will control the renting of rooms in private homes during the Olympics.
According to the report, the official online source for spectator accommodation, www.2010DestinationPlanner.com, says no hotel rooms are available in Vancouver next February.
The Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC) booked 80 per cent of the 12,000 rooms in downtown Vancouver, says the report.
Simon Pettigrew, general manager of the Four Seasons Hotel, said all of his 372 rooms have already been booked by VANOC.
“As part of putting the Games together we contracted with VANOC for a certain percentage of our rooms,” he said. “We were fortunate that VANOC came back and asked us for more rooms, so we’re 100-per-cent committed over the Games period.”
Stephen Peters, manager of the 503-room Pan Pacific Hotel, said all he has left are 23 suites, running between $2,200 and $14,500 a night.
“With the exception of the suites, all my guest rooms are precommitted and will be occupied,” he said. “It’s very doubtful we’ll see any leakage. You’ve already seen NBC, for example, cut back their Olympic program by 35 per cent, so we’re already keenly aware of what their requirements are. So I’m assured we will run a full house.”
Peters said a colleague told him there are 12 or 13 local condo rental companies that own multiple buildings that still have a lot of inventory.
“I think there’ll be a lot of people leaving Vancouver who’ll take the opportunity to make some money and rent their personal or private accommodation,” he said.
Peters said he’s been told home rentals will go at a daily average price of $300 per room.
“So if you’ve got a four bedroom house, you’re looking at $1,000 to $1,500 a day and you can get a contract for 30 or 45 days,” he said.
Walt Judas, 2010 strategist for Tourism Vancouver, said VANOC still needs rooms for extra workers like bus drivers who don’t live in Vancouver.
He said visitors will find it tough to find anything in Vancouver and will have to go to the suburbs.
“In 2006, people stayed in Milan and commuted to Turin by train,” he said.
Judas said some rooms usually become available closer to the Olympics.
He said it will only become a crisis if thousands of people arrive with Games tickets from outside Canada and the Lower Mainland and can’t find anywhere to stay.
“Then we are in trouble,” he said. “But I don’t think that will happen.”
NDP Olympic critic Harry Bains said VANOC needs to find an “innovative” way to handle the demand.
“They have to make sure that our guests do not go through an unpleasant experience,” he said.
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