In anticipation of the Gilroy Garlic Festival in two weeks, most
South County hotels have jacked up their prices to more than twice
the usual rate.
In anticipation of the Gilroy Garlic Festival in two weeks, most South County hotels have jacked up their prices to more than twice the usual rate.
Though not all have doubled prices, visitors can expect skyrocketing rates at nearly every Gilroy hotel.
Morgan Hill hotels are taking full advantage of the increased demand, too.
Booking a single room with a king-sized bed at the Gilroy Hilton Garden Inn on Monterey Road in south Gilroy for tonight costs $139. The same room goes for $299 a night during the festival.
The eyebrow-raising price hikes were met with muted responses by local officials.
“I’m not surprised,” said Jane Howard, executive director of the Gilroy Visitors Bureau. “When I think of the enormity of the Garlic Festival and how 100,000 plus are coming to our small community, there’s always the expectation that there will be additional costs with an event of this magnitude. If the prices are too high, people won’t make reservations. That doesn’t seem to be the problem in this case. A lot of the hotels are already full.”
As of Thursday, the Ramada Limited and Super 8 were sold out, according to their front desk clerks, but several hotels had a few rooms still available.
Compared to the prices some of the hotels were fetching during the weekends prior to and during the U.S. Open in Pebble Beach, almost 45 miles away, the rates during the Garlic Festival seem almost reasonable.
A room at the Gilroy Hilton cost close to $600 a night, according to Howard, and one at the Gilroy Quality Inn & Suites went for $459.99 on travelocity.com.
Other regional events, like the Salinas Rodeo, Monterey Jazz Festival and Hollister Bike Rally, caused local price hikes in the past too, Howard pointed out.
“It’s supply and demand and when you have that kind of primo event, people will pay,” Howard said. “We don’t have any say and, frankly, no one asks us.”
Hotel guests are also paying a price for the convenience of staying within minutes of the festival, she said. Additionally, some hotels offer extra amenities during that weekend, like shuttles to and from the festival grounds.
The few hotel managers that were available Thursday afternoon agreed that bigger events call for higher rates.
“It’s not just the Garlic Festival,” said Dan Patel, a manager at the Gilroy Quality Inn on Murray Avenue. “It’s the demand. We know we’re going to sell out.”
As of Thursday, his hotel only had a few of its 47 rooms still available.
According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, raising the rates at hotels for events is not illegal.
“They can charge whatever they want,” said DA Spokeswoman Amy Cornell. However, “they can’t gouge prices in the event of an emergency. But for something like a festival, it wouldn’t be criminal.”
Next door to the Hilton, the Gilroy Motel 6 is charging $89.99 a night during the festival, one of the lowest prices in town but still $30 more expensive than their rate for tonight.
“We’re not that bad,” said Maria Zarazua, general manager of the Motel 6. “Ours is still under $100.”
And even for the higher-priced hotels, “they still book anyway,” Zarazua said, adding that many of her hotel’s guests have been staying there every Garlic Festival for years and are used to the price hike.
The majority of festival attendees come from within a three-hour driving radius, said Brian Bowe, executive director of the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association.
“The vast majority are not affected by local hotel rates,” Bowe said. “A good thing about the Garlic Festival is that the overall local impact is great for Gilroy. So if hotels are making money and other local merchants – gas stations, some local eateries – are making money, I think that’s a good thing.”
Howard agreed.
“What the Garlic Festival has done for the local economy is just incredible,” she said. “People are always going to be grumbling about things like cost, traffic. But I just keep counting our blessings that we have this fabulous festival.”
