Accommodations on tour? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Accommodations on tour?

olayda

olayda

Well-known member
Hi all
I’m riding from Toronto to Vancouver in July. I don’t usually make motel reservations on tour, it limits my flexibility during the day and I also like to avoid finding myself 2 hours from my motel at 5pm because I took a twisty detour
Does anyone have experience with this trip and just rolling into town and finding a place to stay during summer months? My concern is that during the summer places might all be fully booked - depending on the town of course
I’d appreciate any input or advice.
Thanks !
 
I've never had an issue with finding a place at random except down east in summer and in high tourist zones like Jasper.
If a long day is planned then it's nice to know there is a spot reserved. AirBnB has definitely increased the stock of places to stay tho some are reluctant on short notice.
But that was pre-covid....who knows now. :unsure:
 
I did this trip back in 2020. Ride report is here: Ride Report: 2020 BC

I had no issues finding accommodations and typically planned my bookings in advance, as long as I could cancel them without penalty. This way if my route or schedule changed on any day, it would never be a problem.

I used booking.com to pick my places to stay and used a variety of review sites to read about the places before staying in them.

If I was doing this trip again in mid-summer, I would use the exact same approach as I did previously, because it worked perfect.
 
I always book hotels in advance either for moto travel or otherwise. I don't want to deal with finding a place en route and wasting time doing it, when I could be enjoying the day doing what I planned.
 
with it being summer time and all restrictions to travelling both domestically and internationally, i personally wouldn't chance it and pre-book ahead of time...yes it sucks to have to stick to a schedule, but as @sburns said, it eases the stress of not having a place to lay your head and you can enjoy the day more...
 
Northern Ontario which may be 2-3 nights for you can be difficult to find accommodation IF Forest Fire season is bad. Towns can be evacuated and the residents are housed in local motels/hotels.

We always book ahead as it reduces worry & stress.
 
Did BC and Vancouver Island last June. No reservations anywhere. Whistler was the only place i had trouble finding a room.
 
I dont book hotels in advance. I prefer the flexibility. On occasion, that has led to late night backtracks to try to find a roof. I prefer camping with bike as I can stop anywhere at any time. My parents prebook everything as they prefer to know their endpoint. They book a place 8 hours driving from their start. Even if you do a few hour detour, you still get to your reservation at a decent time. If you get there early, head out and explore local roads.
 
olayda said:
I’m riding from Toronto to Vancouver in July. I don’t usually make motel reservations on tour, it limits my flexibility during the day and I also like to avoid finding myself 2 hours from my motel at 5pm because I took a twisty detour
Does anyone have experience with this trip and just rolling into town and finding a place to stay during summer months? My concern is that during the summer places might all be fully booked - depending on the town of course
I’d appreciate any input or advice.
Thanks !
Click to expand...

Whether you pre-book accommodations really depends on your route and your tolerance for uncertainty.

I've ridden to the west coast and back 4 times so far and I've never pre-booked any accommodations. The main route (TransCanada) across the country is littered with hotels and motels, and when you add private enterprise with AirBnBs, you'll probably never find yourself without a roof over your head.

A couple of hours or so before you want to stop, just pull over and find something on the Internet. It's as easy as that.

I can only think of a couple of reasons why you'd want to pre-book:

- if you decide stray off the main route and decide to head to Vancouver by way of Fort Severn and Tuktoyatuk, then maybe research some stops along the way

- if you are travelling during a very busy long weekend like Canada Day, and are planning to stop in a smaller town, then pre-book something for the night

- if you are the type to worry a lot, then what I'd suggest is to bookmark a few places on the Internet, but don't book them. Sites like booking.com will show you the number of rooms available in each place, so that gives you an idea if the hotel/motel will sell out soon or not. Find something in the town/city you want to stop at, but also bookmark a couple of places a couple of hours earlier on the route in case you have some kind of incident (flat tire or other bike problems). Also bookmark a couple of places a couple of hours later on the route in case you are feeling Olympic and grind out more miles than you think you are able to.

When you want to stop, just break out your bookmarks and book your accommodations when you are ready to - whether it's earlier, on time, or later than you intended. This allows for the greatest flexibility but still gives you options because you did your research beforehand.

IMO, the worst thing you can do is pre-book something non-refundable, because that forces you on a schedule that leaves no leeway for exploration, adventure or misadventure. This is a motorcycle trip after all, not Via Rail!

We were travelling through the western US and we met a guy on the road. We got to talking and found out he was an ex-Dakar Rally privateer racer. We hit it off very well - we were so interested in his stories and similarly he was interested in our travels,. Since he lived in the area, he invited us to stay at his place for the night. It would have been awesome to continue the conversation over a hot meal and some adult beverages, but unfortunately, we had already booked a place for the evening, so we had to decline.

What a wasted opportunity to share stories with a fellow motorcycle adventurer!
 
Thanks for all of the input. Doesn't sound like anyone has experienced any significant problems finding a roof.
Pre booking places with no cancellation fees is a good idea tho- otherwise leave it up to the Moto gods.
Misadventure is part of the adventure after all :)
 
Never pre book anything. Always manage to find a place.
 
olayda said:
Does anyone have experience with this trip and just rolling into town and finding a place to stay during summer months?
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I did when I first started touring. It worked, until it didn't. I rolled into Edmunston NB at 9pm as it was getting dark and found every single motel in town full. So I had to ride 30 minutes in the dark down a road with moose warning signs to get to the next town. My strategy since then has been to book each motel the morning before I leave my previous night's motel. That still gives me some leeway in altering my route if I want to but ensures I always have a place to sleep. This strategy might still require you to alter your route a bit if everything is full in the town you want to stay, happened to me a few times. If you really want to stay in a particular town a particular night, then you're best off booking that many days in advance.

I prefer the mom and pop motels cause you can park right in front of your door for easy access to your bike/luggage.
 
I do think east coast is the exception....we had to ride 80 km ...fortunately not in the dark to find something in Nova Scotia after Annapolis Royal was booked out.

But it can hppen anywhere if there is a large event or "summer rituals" on the go...Upper New York State is notorious in the summer and areas north of Montreal
 
matthew said:
If I'm on a trip to the US, I prebook everything in case there are questions about where I'm staying while at the border.
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this is actually a great idea for me

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When i entered Washington State in July i was asked where i was going. No idea was my reply. Have a nice ride was the response.
 
Wingboy said:
When i entered Washington State in July i was asked where i was going. No idea was my reply. Have a nice ride was the response.
Click to expand...

The response you get is pretty much dependant on the attitude and disposition of the border guard that you are lucky, or unlucky, to get. Total crap shoot. At a minimum, we always book the first night in the U.S.

On a 2nd week of June 2021 trip to Nipigon and back we pre-booked several hotels and motels about 6 - 8 weeks before we went. Distances between stops weren't huge and we were pretty confident we'd have no issues with too early or too late arrival times. In White River both motels were completely booked, and had been for weeks for fire crews, and turning people away, so we were glad to have pre-booked.

You can make reservations on the fly, you don't have to book everything all at once. Work a few days ahead and book with hotels / motels that have liberal cancellations policies.
 
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