Those who've left it to the last minute to book accommodation for Taylor Swift's upcoming concerts in Vancouver are in for a shock, with many hotels and short-term rentals entering their price-gouging era.
The American pop star is set to perform at BC Place on Friday December 6, Saturday December 7, and Sunday December 8, and the city has gone all-out in preparation.
According to Expedia, a number of hotels in the downtown core have availability for all three nights, though anyone hoping to secure a room best prepare to shell out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Among those closest to BC Place are the Sandman Hotel and Hotel Blu.
At Hotel Blu, a room for Friday night is going for over $3,500 with taxes. Similar rooms two weeks later are one tenth of the price.
The Sandman, meanwhile, is charging at least $1,375 for Friday night, far higher than their typical room rate.
These are not one-off examples; nearly every hotel in town appears to have followed the trend.
Hoping to cash in themselves, Vancouver condo owners have listed their spaces online. Facebook Marketplace is awash in countless "Taylor Swift accommodation" ads ranging in price from $150 to $5,000 per night. Even those outside the downtown core have tried their hand at hosting Swifties, with rooms spotted as far away as Delta, Surrey, and Coquitlam.
The Western Standard reached out to a number of the posters to see whether anyone had responded to their ads, however only one wrote back, saying they'd received "some" replies.
AirBnB shows over 600 places available in Greater Vancouver for the night of December 6, however the vast majority are outside the city, and those within reasonable proximity to the stadium are over $1,000 per night.