Online booking systems are wonderful—until you live somewhere that doesn’t quite fit into their boxes.
At Argo’s Landing in Bamfield, we loved the idea of online booking. Guests could see our availability, make their reservation, pay, and receive confirmation without someone having to answer every email or telephone call. For a small operation, that convenience is enormous.
But we quickly discovered something: an online booking system can know exactly where you are on a map and still have absolutely no idea where you are.
At one point, Expedia listed Argo’s Landing as being approximately 32 kilometres from Ucluelet.
Technically, that wasn’t entirely wrong.
As the crow flies, we really aren’t that far away.
Unfortunately, our guests weren’t crows.
Driving from Ucluelet to Bamfield is a completely different story. What looked like a short distance on a booking site could mean a journey of several hours. Guests would sometimes book with us while they were in Ucluelet, thinking Argo’s Landing was perhaps half an hour away.
Then reality would set in.
We had guests planning activities in Tofino while staying with us in Bamfield. A morning whale-watching trip in Tofino might sound perfectly reasonable when a booking system makes everything appear close together. In reality, it could mean leaving Argo’s Landing at 5:30 in the morning just to get there.
Other guests would spend the day in Tofino or Ucluelet and leave for Bamfield late in the afternoon or evening, not realizing what the drive involved.
That worried us even more.
The road into Bamfield is now paved, but it is still a remote, winding road through the forest. There are no street lights, sections have little or no cellular service, and it is not the kind of road we want an unfamiliar visitor discovering for the first time late at night.
This taught us something interesting about modern travel.
People increasingly trust the booking system.
If the website says a property is 32 kilometres away, many people naturally assume that means it is nearby. They may not open Google Maps and check the actual driving route. They may not research the road. They may not realize that geography works differently in a remote coastal community.
And distance wasn’t our only problem.
At various times, online information described Argo’s Landing as a bed and breakfast.
We aren't a bed and breakfast.
Other booking information indicated that we allowed dogs when we didn't. Check-in and check-out times weren't always consistent with ours. Details that might seem minor to a large booking platform could create very real problems once a guest arrived.
And, of course, the person standing in front of the guest trying to sort it all out wasn't the booking system.
It was us.
That has made us think differently about what hospitality means in a remote community.
When someone books directly with us, we don't simply reserve them a bed. We can tell them what the journey is actually like. We can suggest when they should leave. We can explain the road conditions, where they may lose cell service and what they should know before setting out.
We can also make sure they understand what Argo’s Landing is—and what it isn't.
There is tremendous value in online booking. Automation saves small businesses time and makes travel easier for guests. We certainly understand why travellers like it.
But there is also tremendous value in local knowledge.
Perhaps the lesson isn't that online booking is bad. It's that a booking algorithm sees distance, availability, amenities and price.
A local person sees the road.
And when your destination is somewhere like Bamfield, sometimes knowing the road makes all the difference.
