Langford home to region’s first ‘Airbnb hotel’

CHEK

WATCH: A new purpose-built short-term rental hotel has opened in Langford and business is booming. April Lawrence reports.

It’s not a condominium, an apartment or your typical hotel. A brand new building on Goldstream Avenue in Langford is being called a “cyber hotel”. It has 26 suites that will only be rented out short-term, like an Airbnb.

The units at Solo Suites are fully stocked, furnished and range in price from $100 to $200 per night for stays longer than a week. The price is higher for shorter stays.

“We rent to a lot of construction workers, we rented to a bomb squad was one of the first things, people renovating their homes,” said developer Malcolm Hall.

It’s believed to be the first of its kind in the region and comes at a time when other municipalities, like Victoria, are cracking down on short-term vacation rentals, restricting them or even banning them.

Langford’s mayor says there will be no bans in his community.

“Airbnbs, they’re part of our society, they’re part of our community, we do welcome them because there’s actually a niche for it,” said Langford Mayor Stewart Young.

As for the affordable housing crisis in the region, Young said the developer of Solo Suites has already done more than his share, building more than 600 units in the city over the past 25 years.

“We like all different types of housing, expensive houses, affordable housing, rental houses, seniors housing all that sort of stuff it’s all about building a community for people and giving every opportunity for accommodation,” said Young.

Hall said he’s done a soft opening for the past month with just 16 of the 26 suites available but they’re already so busy they’ve had to shut down bookings on their website.

“It’s gone way better than we really wanted it to at this point,” said Hall.

 

April LawrenceApril Lawrence

Recent Stories

Send us your news tips and videos!