Case Study: La'l Stenkrith
2 minute read // updated
Key Takeaways
- La'l Stenkrith is a self-contained annex in Cumbria on the Coast to Coast walk route
- Typically takes 3 or 4 bookings a week, mostly 1 and 2 night stays
- Moved from Airbnb-only after regular guests asked to book direct
We talked with the owner of La'l Stenkrith about moving on from Airbnb-only hosting, and how Bookster has helped them host confidently across multiple platforms from their annex in Cumbria.
- Chose Bookster partly because it's UK-based, unlike most PMS competitors
- Now hosts on Airbnb, Booking.com and their own website with no double-booking risk
- Favourite feature is the control over pricing and minimum length of stay
The control over pricing and length of stay is our favourite functionality.
Client Profile
La'l Stenkrith is a small self-contained annex in Cumbria, sitting on the route of several long distance walks including the Coast to Coast. That location shapes the business: with walkers looking for a stopover on longer journeys, 3 or 4 bookings a week isn't unusual, and stays are predominantly just 1 or 2 nights.
Before Bookster
La'l Stenkrith had hosted solely on Airbnb since 2019, and had done well. But in 2024 bookings started to drop, and in early 2025 a number of regular guests asked if they could book directly, as they were boycotting Airbnb for various reasons.
With their setup at the time, direct payments were the only way to make that happen. That pushed them to look at a PMS, both to run their own booking system and to be able to host across multiple platforms.
Discovery
The idea of diversifying away from a single platform had been on the cards for around a year. Looking around, most of the PMS options appeared to be based in America, until they found one based in Scotland.
Being UK-based themselves, they believed a UK company would understand their market better. They also wanted to host on Booking.com as well as Airbnb, and knew double-booking would be a real risk given both companies' cancellation policies, unless they had a PMS in place to manage it. Bookster's out-of-the-box booking website added to the appeal.
Onboarding
Having worked all their career in IT, La'l Stenkrith's owner was used to getting some software and a manual and simply getting on with it. Bookster's onboarding process took them by surprise:
''I was shown functions I'd missed and they even helped me with the configuration of my ISP to point my URL to my Bookster website.''
The session was scheduled for 60 minutes and ended up lasting 90, with the extra time spent uncovering functionality they hadn't expected to need.
Bookster in Action
Airbnb and Booking.com are now only used to leave and read reviews. Day to day, everything runs through Bookster, including alerts for the other platforms:
"Sometimes we only know that we have a message on Booking.com because we get notified by Bookster."
Beyond having one place to manage multiple sites, the biggest win has been how Bookster's channel manager handles availability and rates. La'l Stenkrith now has much finer control over setting different rates and minimum length of stay than they had on Airbnb, including being able to require longer stays over specific periods, such as Easter, without touching the rest of the calendar.
The Results
Bookster has allowed La'l Stenkrith to host on multiple sites, including their own, with no risk of double-booking, which was their main concern going in. That was the problem a PMS needed to solve before they could confidently list on Booking.com alongside Airbnb, and it's been solved.
Final Thoughts
"Bookster has allowed us to host on multiple sites including our own with no risk of double booking which was our main concern. I would recommend Bookster to any holiday let owner hosting on multiple sites.
They’re not just standing still either, new functionality is being added such as post booking requests that help us get the property ready for the guests."
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why did La'l Stenkrith move away from being Airbnb-only?
- Bookings had started to drop in 2024, and by early 2025 regular guests were asking to book directly rather than through Airbnb. Taking direct payments alone wasn't a full solution, so they looked for a PMS.
- Why did they choose Bookster over other software options?
- Most PMS providers they found were based in America, whereas Bookster is based in Scotland. As a UK business themselves, they felt a UK-based provider would understand their market better.
- Was onboarding difficult?
- No, if anything it was more thorough than expected. The session was scheduled for 60 minutes but ran to 90, with the Bookster team showing them functionality they'd missed and even helping configure their ISP to point their URL to their Bookster website.
- What has been the most useful Bookster feature day-to-day?
- The control over availability and rates, particularly being able to set different minimum length of stay rules for specific periods like Easter without changing the rest of the calendar.
- Would La'l Stenkrith recommend Bookster to other holiday let owners?
- Yes. They'd recommend it to any holiday let owner hosting on multiple sites, given how it's removed their double-booking risk while giving them one place to manage everything.
La'l Stenkrith moved from Airbnb-only hosting to a multi-platform setup with Bookster, solving their double-booking concerns and gaining far tighter control over rates and minimum stays along the way.
