Swifties are looking for a place to stay in northwest Washington after last-minute hotel cancellations in Vancouver, B.C

VANCOUVER, BC – As the pop star herself would say, it’s a narrative that Taylor Swift fans would “love to be left out of”: just days before three Eras Tour performances in Vancouver, B.C., many ticket holders are scrambling to get one affordable accommodation close to the venue.

Swift will be performing in Vancouver, BC at BC Place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Still, desperate stories of last-minute cancellations by landlords and booking agencies are streaming into Facebook groups.

“It’s really stressful because there’s a lot of money involved,” said Mariellen Hubbard, a mother and Taylor Swift fan from Virginia.

Hubbard paid for her Vancouver hotel in full back in January through a small, lesser-known third-party booking site, where she found a hotel room that she said “didn’t cost quite as much money.”

But when she called the hotel this week, she was told her reservation had been canceled.

“I thought, ‘No, no, I didn’t cancel it,'” she said.

She said she didn’t cancel it and didn’t know why it was suddenly canceled. Just a few days before the show, the hotel informed her that there was no room available for her.

Now she’s urging other Swifties to call and check their reservations before they get there.

“I would have shown up Thursday and not had a hotel room if I hadn’t called,” Hubbard said.

Because of last-minute cancellations like this, Hubbard and others have to rebook elsewhere at significantly higher prices if they want a place to sleep after the concert.

“What I had to pay was much more than the exorbitant amount I had already paid,” Hubbard said.

Even residents of the Pacific Northwest have similar problems. Another Portland mother, who did not want to be identified, told KING 5 over the phone that her Airbnb host canceled immediately, saying “the unit needed to be repaired,” without providing further details.

Just last week, an Australian mother said her landlord told her her Vancouver, B.C., apartment needed repairs, even though she had paid thousands in advance months ago and flown her family of four from Sydney.

“I asked him about it. I said, ‘You know, I’m happy living in an apartment that’s being renovated because I have no other choice.’ But no,” she said. “You can make that excuse and get away with it, right?”

The cancellations, more broadly, could also have something to do with B.C.’s new regulations, which came into effect in May and require owners to only rent out their primary residence, a second home or an accessory dwelling unit. This means that hosts with multiple properties are not allowed to use them for short-term rentals such as Airbnb stays. The British Columbia government is threatening to fine or sue rental platforms that fail to provide proof of compliant listings.

With last-minute rebookings near BC Place greatly inflated due to increased demand, many concertgoers are instead changing their plans and opting to drive back across the border to Washington’s northwesternmost communities to rest up the night of the show.

According to Hotels.com, there are only three hotels available in the western cities near the border. Once you arrive in Bellingham, hotel options improve, but many hotels only have one or two rooms left, if any.

If you’re still looking for flights, expect to spend a pretty penny: a nonstop flight from Portland to Vancouver, for example, currently costs around $1,500.

Additionally, many Swifties took to social media to express concerns about missing Swift’s show due to possible long waits at the border. The Canada Border Services Agency says on its website that it is prepared for peak periods. However, KING 5’s inquiry as to whether additional resources will be added this weekend has not yet been responded to.

Check this page for updated wait times.