For a midweek standard room in July at Long Beach Lodge Resort overlooking Cox Bay: $659 a night, plus tax.
Best Western Plus Tin Wis Resort: $649, and there’s a nightly minimum, depending on the day.
Wickaninnish Inn on North Chesterman Beach: $980, with a four-night minimum.
Oceanside suite at Pacific Sands: $699, with a three-night minimum.
For a king bed at Hotel Zed: $714, plus tax and the two-night minimum.
Tofino has always been pricey during the peak summer months, but this year, the cost of a weekend getaway might get you a week-long all-inclusive in Mexico.
“It’s a beautiful experience, but it’s definitely catering to a different class,” said Jared Beaton, general manager at Tin Wis Resort, a Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation-owned and operated property.
“Between food, travel and miscellaneous goodies and expenses, it’s probably nothing to spend $1,000 a day when you have a family of four.”
Higher demand from Canadians vacationing at home and Americans crossing the border to take advantage of their stronger dollar has created the “perfect storm” going into summer, says Beaton.
The average price of a hotel on Vancouver Island in April climbed to $218.84 this year from $201.40 a night in 2024, up 8.7 per cent, according to statistics in a Canadian hotel industry report. The Whistler area, meanwhile, saw a 6.3 per cent increase in the average daily rate for a hotel in April, to $314.04 from $295.35.
Beaton said the rates have almost doubled since he started at the Tin Wis Resort in 2019. “It’s like real estate. But it’s also incredibly expensive to operate compared to four or five years ago.”
He said it feels like everything from groceries to gas, accommodation and dining out has doubled in price since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Beaton said his water bill for the last three months of 2023 was $13,000. The same time a year later, it was $46,000.
“Bills have gone up, so rates go up — it’s a vicious cycle,” he said. “If somebody out there can find a solution to lower our costs enough, so that we have the ability to lower our rates, so that we can invite families that are wanting to come out but can’t swing it, send me over the recipe because I’m all ears.”
Brandon Manzardo, general manager of Surf Grove Campground Tofino, said the campground’s water costs have almost tripled in the last four years because the district has moved to a fixed-cost system.
When Surf Grove opened in the summer of 2020, Manzardo said the rate for a basic tent site four rows back from the beach was $89/night, while the rate for a fully serviced RV site closest to the beach was $109/night.
This summer, those same sites are roughly $226.50 and $251.50 a night, respectively.
“Of course, our rates are higher than most campgrounds you’d experience, but you’re not getting all the value adds that we have brought to life here at any other campground in the country,” said Manzardo, noting they have laundry, a small grocery store, a business centre, WiFi and 24-hour security throughout the property on Cox Bay Beach.
He said he manages the rate threshold himself and does not rely on AI management software. He compared AI hotel rate-management tools to casinos, saying: “the house always wins.”
“Once the program realized it can double or triple that high-demand time frame, it does it for you,” said Manzardo. “You see these dramatic rate increases … If somebody pays for it, there is still demand. It’s everywhere.”
He said he doesn’t see Surf Grove increasing its rates next year because it’s not adding any more value to the property. “It really comes down to ethics and how you see your brand fitting in the scope of the world. For us, we have a limit. How can we justify ethically increasing our rate but not providing more value to our guest? For me, it doesn’t sit right. For the ownership, it doesn’t sit right.”
Brad Parsell, executive director of Tourism Tofino, said the good news is that rates are not that high all year round. “Hotel rates are significantly cheaper outside of summer, and the experience can be much richer in slower times of the year.”
Nora O’Malley is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Ha-Shilth-Sa. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
