Need a break from the heat? Book a room
Calgarians looking to beat the heat are flocking to local hotels on a quest for air-conditioned comfort and to spend time poolside.
Hotel Arts associate sales director Elena Menk says when the mercury soars, so do calls to book rooms.
“Everyone is just looking for the place to stay cool, and enjoy the afternoon without being fried in the sun,” said Menk.
“We've seen a huge influx of new reservations because people are trying to escape the heat wave. A lot of them don't have AC at home. Also we have an amazing pool, which gives you the opportunity to combine the pool, and the cool space.”
The hotel association says it's normal for bookings to jump during hot summer days,
“Many people think air conditioning is a luxury, but I don't think it is anymore. I think it's a necessity, really. But we certainly see our occupancies climb every time. There's hot weather in Calgary in the summer for sure," said Mark Wilson a spokesperson for the Calgary Hotel Association, and VP of Hotel Arts.
What makes this hot stretch different, Wilson added, is that after a year of COVID-19 restrictions, demand is even hotter.
“It seems people have more time on their hands through the week during the pandemic," Wilson said. “We're hearing a lot that people are just tired of being cooped up.”
Valerie Sergienko and a friend beat the heat at Hotel Arts. A number of Calgarians are escaping hot homes and checking in to hotels
HOMES 'TOO HOT TO BEAR'
Tuesday morning every single hotel guest at the Hotel Arts pool told CTV they were there because their own homes were too hot to bear.
“Our house - it's pretty hot. I think its 28 or 29 (degrees) maybe? It's pretty hot, "said Shaun Lyster who was at Hotel Arts with his family. “We're like it's going to be like 35 degrees (outside) and so we were’ let's do a staycation and go downtown. Hang out by the pool for a day.’”
“We are pretty much unable to get up below 28 in our apartment,” said Calgarian Don Scott. “So (it's) pretty nice, sitting by a pool and having that air conditioning at night. It's wonderful.”
“We haven't been anywhere in a year and a half because of the pandemic, so our travel budget is overflowing. We didn't know what to do with it, so we thought ‘why not come down here for a few days and be cool?" said Elaine Scott. “We feel like we're on holidays. It's such a nice, nice place to be away from home where we've been locked and to be away from the heat.”
HOTEL POOL AS HOME OFFICE
Across the pool from the Scotts, Valerie Sergienko was working on her computer. For now, poolside at the hotel has replaced working from home.
“This is my office for the day, which is really not that bad. My home felt like it's a tropical rain forest. I'm guessing probably around the higher end of 35 to 40 degrees indoors," said Sergienko. "When my girlfriend and I heard about the heatwave coming our way, we figured let's save ourselves, let's book the pool and book the hotel. Let's stay here for a couple of nights, sleep in an air-conditioned room, and it was the best decision, honestly.”
Valerie Sergienko checked into a hotel to beat the Calgary heatwave
Wilson says there are still rooms available at hotels citywide, but says as the heat wave continues they will book up quickly, “I think we're benefiting certainly from local travellers coming to our hotels. I think it's fabulous for us. We love great weather.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.