266 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

How about over the last two decades?

I don’t know where the Radisson was, though. Anybody?

[Victoria Watcher]

I think he might have been referring to 3020 Blanshard. With the wrong name.

Anyway they disappeared because the City emptied them out for the homeless. Bad trade off.

Then of course we banned Air BnB.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 November 2024 - 06:31 AM.

[Mike K.]

Comfort Inn.

The province bought the hotels, the City didn’t have much say.

[Victoria Watcher]

The City absolutely had a say.

[Mike K.]

The landowners who sold, had a say. They didn’t have to check with the city before they sold their hotels to the province.

[Victoria Watcher]

I agree that at the end of the day the province can do as they please including overruling any local bylaws.

But there is a reason all the bought hotels were in Victoria and not Oak Bay and Saanich or Sidney or Central Saanich. The City gave their blessing.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 November 2024 - 07:09 AM.

[Mike K.]

Can’t blame the city on this one. It was 100% on the hands of the property owners.

The province bought hotels all up and down the Island, and elsewhere in BC. They bought tons of hotels, at a time when hotels weren’t making revenue. It was the sweetest deal for property owners in recent BC history.

The province also bought approved development sites, or parcels that had appropriate zoning for high density buildings. They built supportive housing in Victoria, Saanich and Central Saanich.

[Victoria Watcher]

Can’t blame the property owners. Every one of us would take the cash too.

[Mike K.]

You don’t think some property owners were approached, and rejected the offer?

[Victoria Watcher]

Probably. But everyone has their price. And as we saw the price offered was often very high. They all sold for a much higher per-door price than any hotels were trading for.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 November 2024 - 07:30 AM.

[Mike K.]

Yes, but I don’t see what the City had to do with it. Did the City ask the province to buy hotels?

[Victoria Watcher]

Canadian music star Nelly Furtado recently recounted her time working as a chambermaid at Victoria’s Robin Hood Inn and Suites while speaking on the hugely popular podcast Call Her Daddy by Alex Cooper.

 

The singer of I’m Like a Bird fame says she worked at the longstanding hotel every summer for roughly a decade, starting in her teenage years, and says the experience helped prepare her for the music industry in some ways.

 

“It was called the Robin Hood Motel, and my mom worked there, my sister, my aunt, my cousin,” she said on the podcast, which has millions of views and dubs itself “the most-listened to podcast by women.”

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...od-inn-1224224/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 November 2024 - 03:49 AM.

[Ismo07]

I agree that at the end of the day the province can do as they please including overruling any local bylaws.

But there is a reason all the bought hotels were in Victoria and not Oak Bay and Saanich or Sidney or Central Saanich. The City gave their blessing.

 

I'm not sure the Province would have bought the Oak Bay Beach hotel for this endeavour.  They selectively bought older hotels that  were still close to services.  You think they made an offer for the Waddling Dog?  C'mon.

[Victoria Watcher]

$5,200,000

 

 

 

505 Terminal Ave N
Nanaimo, British Columbia V9S4K1

 

 

PRIME INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY: Presenting a unique opportunity to acquire the well-established Port-O-Call Inn & Suites, a recently renovated 42-unit motel located in the heart of Nanaimo, British Columbia. This property offers a prime location just minutes from key local attractions, including the Departure Bay Ferry Terminal, Newcastle Island Marine Provincial Park, downtown Nanaimo and Vancouver Island University make this a highly desirable location for tourists and business travelers alike. PROPERTY HIGHLIGHTS: The motel boasts 42 newly renovated guest rooms, including 18 fully-equipped kitchenette suites, a spacious 2-bedroom manager’s suite, a leased onsite Japanese restaurant for additional income stream, and the property is in excellent condition following recent upgrades. IDEAL BUYERS: Hospitality operators looking to expand or establish a footprint, First-time entrepreneurs or investors seeking a profitable turnkey business, Hotel chains/franchises or real estate developers, Families or partners seeking a lifestyle business opportunity, Niche buyers interested in a well-established motel with strong local demand. This is a rare opportunity to invest in a thriving business in one of British Columbia's most sought-after communities. Don't miss out on owning a piece of Nanaimo's hospitality market!

 

 

https://www.realtor....central-nanaimo

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 November 2024 - 09:21 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

After being approached by a group of local hotels and the business association, Sidney has voted in favour of writing a letter of support to implement a hotel tax in the town.

 

The Municipal and Regional District Tax, which is referred to as a hotel tax, is an optional tax that can be implemented by a municipality or regional district if it is supported by the local hotel industry.

 

The money generated from the tax must be used to support the local tourism industry.

 

Sidney was approached by the Sidney Hotel Group and the Sidney Business Improvement Area society asking for a letter of support for its application to implement a three per cent tax.

 

“Over the past year, the Sidney Hotel Group, comprising all Sidney hotel partners, has actively pursued the implementation of the MRDT and approached the Sidney BIA to oversee and manage this initiative,” Morgan Shaw, executive director of the Sidney BIA wrote to council.

 

“All Sidney hotels, with the exception of Lochside Inn & Suites, have expressed full support for this initiative. This includes the Marriott TownePlace Suites, which has also joined the conversation and endorsed the application.”

 

The Sidney BIA anticipates this will generate $410,000 each year to be used for tourism marketing, visitor services and destination development, with some being used for administration.

 

Sidney council voted 5-2 in favour of writing the letter of support, with Couns. Steve Duck and Terri O’Keefe opposed.

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...el-tax-1227503/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 December 2024 - 11:36 PM.

[Matt R.]

Lovely. Sidney has a beautiful core, and I imagine the BIA has something to do with that.

[Barrister]

I prefer Sidney over downtown Victoria these days, Sad but true.

[Matt R.]

Both have unique things on offer for my needs. I definitely frequent downtown and Sidney strip much more than malls.

[Victoria Watcher]

British Columbia's housing crisis is a cruel irony. We face a desperate shortage of long-term rentals, yet witness hotels lobbying to strangle legal short-term rentals (STRs). This hypocrisy exposes a truth – for some, profit trumps people.

 

The recent regulations targeting legal STRs were lauded as a victory for affordability. Yet, a closer look reveals a smokescreen. Hotels, facing competition from platforms like Airbnb, lobbied heavily for these restrictions. Here's the catch: while painting themselves as champions of long-term housing, these same hotels are proposing serviced apartments – essentially, short-term rentals under a different label.

 

Take the 129-room TownePlace Suites by Marriott, a multinational corporation building the region’s first extended stay hotel, which hotels refer to as “serviced apartments” to avoid the taint of “airbnb”. The three-storey all-suite hotel will feature studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units with fully equipped kitchens. This is blatant hypocrisy. If hotels truly prioritize tourism, wouldn't they support regulations that address Victoria's documented 2,000-room hotel shortage? Instead, they advocate for policies that remove 600 legal STRs from Victoria's downtown market, further squeezing visitor options with their oligopoly.

 

This raises a troubling question: are these regulations truly about long-term housing, or about protecting established (often multinational) hotel chains? Consider the plight of a legal STR owner in Victoria. Their 250-square-foot unit, demonstrably not suitable for a long-term tenant, languishes on the sales market at $299K for over 60 days. Meanwhile, countless other micro-studios have not been rentable either – they are not affordable to rent for many individuals at $1,900 a month and the size makes them challenging for couples to live in full time.

 

This example highlights the reality – many legal STRs wouldn't become homes or long-term rentals even if forced.

 

B.C. needs a nuanced solution. We can't ignore the tourism industry's needs, but sacrificing residents on the altar of hotel profits is unacceptable. Instead, let's focus on: increased development of purpose-built rentals: This directly addresses the long-term housing shortage. Regulation of REITs (Real estate investment trusts) which own 30-48% of rental housing and benefit from the fact that Canadian law exempts them from corporate taxes as long as profits are distributed to investors. When investors control housing stock the pressure to generate profit rises and landlords are incentivized to evict residents and raise rental prices.

 

Allow micro-condos (under 400 sq. ft.) unsuitable for long-term rentals in appropriately zoned downtown tourism areas to offer short-term rentals: They are not taking away affordable or appropriate housing. 

 

 

https://www.vicnews....-crisis-7687773

[lanforod]

Heh. This is the owner of several Janion units. I mostly agree with her, but she’s very biased!