Finding a Room During Vancouver Winter Olympics
Vancouver, BC - If you’re still dreaming of going to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., here are the most recent updates on what options are available for last minute travelers.
Accommodations: Most of the larger hotels & motels in and around downtown Vancouver are booked solid during the Feb. 12-28 Winter Games, as are those nearby in suburban areas like Richmond, Surrey and even Abbostsford. The Whistler area, where alpine and cross-country skiing and other events will be held, has been sold out for months now.
Some of the smaller Vancouver hotels have some vacancies, including some downtown locations, even on the opening weekend of the Games. The reason they still have rooms available is because they usually don’t show up on sites like Travelocity, Priceline and Hotels.com. However rates start at around $600 a night and have minimum stays.
I would suggest you start out by calling some of the smaller motels and if they don’t have anything available, find out if they know of anything that might be available or other options. The people in the hotel & motel business usually know who & where there might be some rooms available…that’s their business, to accommodate guests.
You can search by date and location on the official Olympics accommodations site, http://www.2010destinationplanner.com/. Keep checking as room inventory changes frequently, and prices/minimum stays may lessen as the Games draw closer. Finding rooms in the Whistler area may prove to be very difficult with tens of thousands of athletes, officials and fans flooding the ski resort during the Olympics.
The Web site also has links to other accommodation options in Vancouver, including B&Bs, homes for rent, homeowners that are renting out rooms locally, and even beachfront sites in a city park for RV camping.
One might try looking just over the border in Whatcom County for vacancies in local motels, Bed & Breakfasts, and homes for rent in the Bellingham, Washington area for something a little more affordable. Bellingham is less than an hours drive to downtown Vancouver as long as you don’t have too long of a wait at the border. I recently checked rates at motels in the Bellingham area and they are actually charging from $250.00 and up per nite during the games. A big percentage of the motels were already sold out during the Feb 12-28 games in Whatcom County.
If you have an RV, try one of the many local RV parks in Whatcom & Skagit County. Tow a car alone with you or rent one, once your in the area and then make the short trek into Vancouver to enjoy the Olympics this way.
Bellingham Craigslist Vacation Rentals has several new ads daily for Whatcom County area homeowners that are renting homes, condos & rooms during the Olympics as well. I have had a lot of emails and phone calls over the last several weeks and month from homeowners as well that want to rent rooms, condos and homes…so I know there are lots of local accommodations out there if one looked hard enough. Here is another site that offers accommodations for the Winter Olympics with lots of different situations you might want to consider.
However, be careful of Olympic rental scams out there…I’m sure there will be a few trying to take advantage of this big event.
Well good luck finding a place to stay and enjoy the Winter Olympics. It should be pretty exciting once they get going just over the border from here.
Jerry Campbell - The Muljat Group - Bellingham WA - Bellingham Homes For Sale
The Building Industry Association of Whatcom County honored several of its members for their contributions to Whatcom County and the local building industry at the Annual Installation Banquet on Wednesday, Dec. 16.