$2,500 a night: FIFA demand sends Vancouver hotel prices sky high

The FIFA World Cup is still nearly a year away – but Vancouver’s hotel rooms are already being scooped up.

With nearly a year to go before Vancouver hosts 2026 FIFA World Cup matches, hotel rooms are already in short supply for the event, and far from affordable.

CTV News compared prices for the weekend of the city’s opening match, June 12 to 15, and found that most rooms with two beds in the downtown core are either fully booked or priced over $1,000 a night.

We analyzed costs directly on hotel websites and on third-party sites like Hotels.ca and Expedia.

The Hyatt Regency has one ofthe more competitive options, with a two-bed room listed at $1,053 per night.

A two-bed suite at the Century Plaza was $1,496, the OPUS Hotel was priced at $2,438, and Hotel Le Soleil came in at an even $2,500 per night.

Even hotels outside the downtown core offered little relief.

For example, a room at the Holiday Inn Vancouver-Centre in Fairview goes for $1,096.

For comparison, rates at the same hotels drop dramatically by mid-August — two months after the FIFA matches.

The Hyatt’s price is roughly $500 lower, Century Plaza’s drops by more than $1,000, and the OPUS rate is a fraction of its June price.

We also noticed prices fluctuate frequently. Some rooms were suddenly a few hundred dollars cheaper (but still expensive) in the afternoon than they were in the morning.

Some hotels might also offer more competitive options – for smaller rooms with a single bed – than are listed on third-party websites.

Vancouver is set to host seven World Cup matches in 2026.