Stampede month away and hotel rooms are double or triple normal rates
Near-capacity occupancy means downtown rooms that rent for $300 in June start at $900 for the first weekend of the Stampede.
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A month before the Calgary Stampede kicks off, anyone hunting for a hotel room faces prices that have doubled or tripled what they'd pay in regular summer weeks.
At the Fairmont Palliser, a room going for around $300 per night in June jumps to $900 for the first Stampede weekend, with some suites pushing past $1,100. The Marriott Downtown and Hyatt are tracking similarly. In some cases, those rates now exceed what you'd pay at comparable hotels in downtown Vancouver during the FIFA World Cup.
Myka Osinchuk, interim executive director for the Calgary Hotel Association, said the spike comes down to the same economic pressure every year: massive demand colliding with limited supply. During last year's Stampede, some downtown hotels hit occupancy rates above 95 per cent or sold out entirely. Compare that to the yearly average of around 67 per cent occupancy, and it's clear why rates soar.
Downtown hotels saw average rates climb about 58 per cent above their annual baseline during 2025's Stampede. Other parts of the city saw a 44 per cent bump. Calgary ranks about sixth out of ten Canadian cities in year-round occupancy—Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal leading—so Stampede serves a crucial role, balancing the slower winter and shoulder seasons when rooms sit emptier.
The higher rates also reflect real costs. Hotels add temporary staff, boost service levels, and invest extra resources to handle the influx while maintaining guest experience. Hotel Arts, positioned closest to the grounds, is already more or less sold out a month before the event kicks off.