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By paNOW Staff

How much is too much?

Price gouging or supply and demand? Spiked hotel prices spark concern for travellers

Jan 13, 2025 | 3:53 PM

As a hockey Mom, Kimberly Stewart knows to expect some travelling and overnight hotel stays for tournaments. What she didn’t expect was a $391 price tag for a room in Prince Albert recently.

“Hockey is already a huge expense for most families. I struggle to pay the basic hotel fees and to have to pay almost $400 a night just so your family could be in a clean safe hotel is insane,” Stewart said.

Unhappy with the cleanliness of the hotel they were originally booked to stay in, Stewart said the team from North Battleford decided to leave. A few families found a room at one of the newer hotels in town, but other teammates were forced to drive to Warman or Martensville since everywhere else in P.A. was booked.

“I couldn’t find another [cheaper] room for the Friday night. I found another room for the Saturday night which was $148.85 a night,” she said.

Another family from the team ended up paying $820 for two nights in Prince Albert and said they were unhappy that the hotel would ‘jack up the price for that one weekend’ knowing there was a girl’s hockey tournament in town with several teams.

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Jim Bence, president and CEO of Hospitality Saskatchewan said there aren’t actually any regulatory bodies in the province that restrict or even guide hotels on setting prices. He said it really just comes down to supply and demand.

“Oftentimes, if there is a citywide event in which almost all of the inventory for rooms in that community are selling fast, the prices can rise,” he said.

He used Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour as an example of how quickly prices can inflate and said it’s common in larger centres that have regular events like NHL games to see increased prices that match the event calendar. He added that often times, the prices also come down to the quality of the hotel or even the room type that people are trying to get into like a standard or a suite.

“I think most operators are very sensitive to the fact that they want to make sure that as they lift their rates because they may have fewer rooms left, they don’t want to tip over from what is perceived to be good value for the room into what some consumers might think as being gouged and then they lose that customer forever,” Bence said.

While Stewart was thankful to have found a cleaner room for the night, she was still left uncomfortable with the cost.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @princealbertNOW