Blog

Notes from operations

What we learn while building and in the daily life of the houses, written down to read back.

How to Run a Surf Camp: A Day in Operations

Arrivals, line-ups, bar tabs, cleaning rounds and the evening count: what a surf camp day actually looks like, and where the time goes.

Surf Camp Software: What Small Houses Need (and What They Do Not)

Channel managers, payment gateways, booking engines: which classic hotel tech pays off for 5 to 25 rooms, and which is dead weight.

Direct Bookings Without a Channel Manager

What a portal booking really costs, where direct bookings actually come from, and the four things you need to take one yourself.

Season Pricing for a Twelve-Room House

The nightly rate is the weakest lever you have. Minimum stays, three seasons instead of two, and how to spot a bad week while you can still fix it.

What Goes in the Package and What Goes on the Bill

All-inclusive or a la carte, the four things guests hate to pay for separately, and why included services still have to be booked.

Beds, Not Rooms: The Dorm Math Nobody Explains

When a dorm beats the private room it replaced, why availability has to count in beds, and the half-turnover that ruins an afternoon.

Five Numbers a Small Surf House Should Know

Occupancy on its own tells you almost nothing. Revenue per available bed night, services share, direct share, repeat rate and length of stay.

The Evening Count: Cash in a House Where Everything Is Cash

Expected against counted, every evening. Where the money leaks, why shift handovers beat trust, and what to do when the drawer is short.

The 48 Hours Before Arrival

The five things you need before a guest turns up, why they should fill them in themselves, and what to do about the one in five who never does.

WhatsApp for Guest Communication: A Practical Setup

Guests do not read email. How small houses run welcome messages, payment reminders and review requests on WhatsApp without spamming anyone.

Asking for Reviews: Timing, Channel, and the Three-Star One

Why the day after departure beats checkout, why Google beats the portals, who should not be asked at all, and how to answer a bad review.

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced: Why Self-Assessment Fails

Four questions that sort guests better than any level dropdown, how to move someone down without upsetting them, and why group size is a safety number.

Boards Break: A Rental Inventory That Survives a Season

Counting in sizes rather than boards, a damage policy guests accept, the return that never happens, and what a rental really costs you.

Retreats and Whole-House Bookings

One payer, sixteen guests: the deposit schedule that protects your shoulder season, the six things to settle before signing, and who pays at the bar.

A Team That Can Run the House Without You

Four roles and what each needs to see, why the shared login is expensive, the six procedures worth writing down, and handing over for a season.

Ready to work more relaxed?

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