IB次元官网网址檒l admit it. There have been moments in my life where IB次元官网网址檝e felt that broken-guitar-string twang of anxiety travelling along Highway 4.

Will my little economy wagon be leading a frustrated 18-vehicle bumper-to-bumper caravan as it painfully wheezes its way, every piston straining, over the last few metres of the Hump?

Is that freaking moron really going to try and pass me along the snake-bellied descent to Kennedy Lake?

Are the kids going to make it all the way to Long Beach without a bathroom break?

Never, ever before have I been scared of the food.

And it seemed like such a great idea at the time.

***

They call it clickbait for a reason.

There I was, all focused on an important journalistic research safari with the help of my faithful sherpa Google (itB次元官网网址檚 OK, they pay me to do stuff like this) when the link leapt off the screen and smacked me hard, right on my mousing finger.

It was the for a restaurant in Tofino called B次元官网网址淭he Pacific Breeze Fishermans Net.B次元官网网址�

It had no less than 26 reviews.

And every single one B次元官网网址� EVERY SINGLE ONE B次元官网网址� had the exact same bottom line: B次元官网网址淭errible.B次元官网网址�

The headlines speak the message better than I.

B次元官网网址淭here are no wordsB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淩un when you canB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏eware!B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淎VOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTSB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he worst restaurant in CanadaB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淒ear god no.B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淲e survived! Do not go!B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淭hink of the Bates MotelB次元官网网址�

These are just the first eight that popped up. The more detailed content gets worse.

I know online restaurant reviews can have their flaws, between owners planting false praise and vested interests indulging in a little over-the-top attack posting.

But this seemed different.

I mean, I scoured TripAdvisorB次元官网网址檚 restaurant reviews for every community from Mill Bay to Port Hardy. The only other place that even came close to the abysmal ratings of the Fishermans Net was a strip club in Campbell River.

And even with comments like B次元官网网址渇ilthy outside, filthy insideB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址渁bsolutely gross,B次元官网网址� two reviewers had the heart to give that place a B次元官网网址減oorB次元官网网址� and one more an B次元官网网址渁verage.B次元官网网址�

How does somebody B次元官网网址� anybody B次元官网网址� go oh-for-26?

I knew what I had to do.

I quickly banged out the above prose and fired it off as an email to my oh-so-lovely, incredibly understanding wife.

B次元官网网址淗oney,B次元官网网址� I said. B次元官网网址淗ow would you like to go out for dinner this weekend? Just the two of us?B次元官网网址�

***

TripAdvisor doesnB次元官网网址檛 usually inspire much fear and loathing. Or such morbid curiosity.

B次元官网网址淚ntimate Cozy BistroB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏est filet mignon EVERB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淪eafood Crepes to Die ForB次元官网网址�: these review headlines are more what folks are used to seeing B次元官网网址� not to mention looking for B次元官网网址� when they head to their phones looking for a great hospitality experience.

These are also the review headlines for Bistro 694, TripAdvisorB次元官网网址檚 top-ranked restaurant in Qualicum Beach and among the highest-ranked north of the Malahat. It has been reviewed 252 times and received the highest possible B次元官网网址渆xcellentB次元官网网址� rating 200 times.

The folks at Bistro 694 believe in the effectiveness of the TripAdvisor system enough that they trumpet their status on their own website.

Research backs up that belief.

A by the Oxford school of economics found that TripAdvisor influenced 13.2 per cent of all international and 7.7 per cent of all domestic travel decisions worldwide. About 22 million trips and 352 million overnight stays occurred in 2014 that would not have happened without TripAdvisor. Website content generated $478 billion in travel spending that same year.

The number of listings on TripAdvisor globally has increased more than five-fold B次元官网网址� from 535,000 in 2009 to 3.59 million in 2014. At the same time, the number of reviews rose more than 16-fold, to nearly 110 million reviews compared to about six million as recently as 2009.

And while there have been documented cases of fake reviews on such sites, Oxford found that the consumer, by and large, places a huge amount of trust in what they say,

B次元官网网址淭ravellers are emboldened by additional transparency and trusted reviews provided by TripAdvisor as the internet has become a key source in the travel decision-making process,B次元官网网址� the report states. B次元官网网址淎dditional trips are taken with clear benefits for the consumer.

B次元官网网址淚ndustry benefits from increased revenue as well as clearer channels of communication with travellers, allowing some smaller operators to compete more easily.B次元官网网址�

Tourism Vancouver Island CEO David Petryk said everyone in the hospitality industry has to be exceptionally aware of their online profile. Review posts, particularly on places like TripAdvisor, matter.

B次元官网网址淎bsolutely itB次元官网网址檚 something the industry has to monitor B次元官网网址� all social media,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址�(Businesses) should respond to all comments, positive and negative. The vast majority of them respect a response. ItB次元官网网址檚 reputation management.B次元官网网址�

He said consumers appreciate the guidance of online reviews. They like to pay it forward with reviews of their own. He said serious businesses appreciate the insight into how consumers really feel.

B次元官网网址淚 think itB次元官网网址檚 really positive for the industry to know there is a place they can comment,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 think I can comfortably say the majority of businesses are finding it very positive. ItB次元官网网址檚 huge and itB次元官网网址檚 growing exponentially.B次元官网网址�

There is a point to all this: when a respected reviewer like tripsterVancouver_Bc is one of a litany of people on TripAdvisor saying things like B次元官网网址渢his place should be closedB次元官网网址� readers should pay attention, not drive four hours out to the West Coast to check it out.

I kept these thoughts to myself as I flashed my wife a nervous smile.

She lowered her eyebrows as my hands clenched tighter on the steering wheel.

***

I missed the The Pacific Breeze Fishermans Net on my first pass.

I was trundling blissfully toward downtown Tofino when my wife spotted a B次元官网网址渨ir sprechen deutschB次元官网网址� sign she remembered from the reviews. A woman had reported that when her husband and six-year-old daughter tried to speak to their server in German, he just looked at them strangely and grunted.

I wheeled the car around and parked.

It was a haggard complex that included a hotel and not one, but two restaurants. One appeared to be a coffee shop, the other a dining room. Each looked deserted.

A faded sign that at one time must have been backlit rested above the dining room door. I could still read the word B次元官网网址淣et.B次元官网网址� A sunroofed patio adjacent a row of booths in the coffee shop matched the photo on TripAdvisor.

I peered through the dingy windows and spotted an empty aquarium pushed up against a tiled wall. I couldnB次元官网网址檛 tell if the tile was grimy or if it was just the window. Further in, tables and chairs appeared to be stacked, but it was dark and the view was partially blocked. I couldnB次元官网网址檛 really be sure.

I tried to imagine how it might have looked 40 years ago, or how it could look after a weekB次元官网网址檚 worth of restoration work from the set decorators of Mad Men. Through that lens, it looked OK.

I had considerably less difficulty imagining the torn seats, sticky countertops, slovenly service and bad food described in the reviews.

This was definitely the right place. It looked like it hadnB次元官网网址檛 been open for quite some time.

Finding it closed didnB次元官网网址檛 come as a huge surprise. The most recent reviews on TripAdvisor were from the late summer of 2015, but there werenB次元官网网址檛 any between August 2013 and June 2015. A scouring of revealed a facility at the same address called the Clayoquot Seaview Inn Ltd. had closed in the summer of 2013 after being in violation of health standards. Island Health cleared it to re-open in January of 2015.

I wasnB次元官网网址檛 going to get my dinner there as planned. And, I must admit, I wasnB次元官网网址檛 too upset about that fact.

As I walked back to my car, I thought about what Petryk had said about the necessity of hospitality businesses staying on top of social media and using the consumer feedback to massage their operations.

And it occurred to me that B次元官网网址� whether through agency or circumstance B次元官网网址� I could see no evidence that the operators of the The Pacific Breeze Fishermans Net gave a damn about what TripAdvisor readers and posters thought.

It helped cement my opinion that consumer expectations and a changing Tofino had simply passed them by.

About 24 hours later, I was rolling east, past the foot of Sproat Lake.

I glanced at my wife snoozing peacefully in the passenger seat after a restful evening spent at the Terrace Beach Resort (TripAdvisorB次元官网网址檚 number-two ranked Ucluelet hotel). I realized I never did give her that dinner out I promised.

I made myself a pledge: when I get home, IB次元官网网址檓 going to make reservations for Bistro 694.

Just the two of us.

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