VIRGINIA BEACH, Va - With the Something in the Water festival returning to Virginia Beach from April 28 to April 30, hotel prices are up significantly.
Most hotels at the oceanfront start off at around $230 dollars a night.
"You’re going to have incredible demand when you bring 90,000 to Virginia Beach. There’s only so many hotel rooms in the city. It’s a supply and demand scenario," said John Zirkle, the general manager for the DoubleTree Hotel and president of the city's hotel association.
Zirkle said it'll be a big weekend for all businesses.
A News 3 viewer sent us a screenshot, showing a 3-night stay in studio suite at the Embassy Suites Hilton for a whopping $5,302. News 3 checked their site hours later to learn all rooms are now sold out for that weekend.
In 2019, Hampton Roads generated $24 million from the festival’s economic boost, resulting in a tax revenue of more than a million dollars.
News 3's Leondra Head caught up with some people on the boardwalk that will be attending the festival.
"We were here a couple of years ago when they did the first one. It was awesome," one Virginia Beach resident told News 3 reporter Leondra Head.
They said they won’t have to deal with expensive hotel prices.
"We live nearby. We’ll probably let people come stay with us and save on the ridiculous hotel prices," the resident said.
Others are in the same boat.
"I’ve looked into the prices and they are outrageous. I live about a mile from here. So I’ll definitely get to save a lot of money on the stay," another Virginia Beach resident said.
Oceanfront businesses such as Waterman’s Surfside Grille are also looking forward to the economic boost. The owner of the well-known seafood restaurant said April is typically the start of the tourism season for the oceanfront.
"Our revenue will be slightly higher. Where our revenue increases is the two weeks leading up to the event because there are so many people in town supporting it between journalists and construction workers," Mike Standing said.
In 2019, Virginia Beach hotels generated $2.2 million in revenue from the Something in the Water Festival.
"Once everybody found out Something in the water was coming, it’s not a typical weekend. Now it's more like a 4th of July weekend," John Zirkle said.
