Case Study: Casa Palana
8 minute read // updated
Key Takeaways
- Casa Palana is a luxury villa in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote
- Owned and run by a family of four, with a local team for cleaning and maintenance
- Setup with Bookster took about an hour, with channels connected on a second call
We talked with Anthony about running Casa Palana, his family's villa in Lanzarote remotely.
He explains why a single double booking made him give up spreadsheets, how quickly he got set up with Bookster, and what he does with the time he's saved.
The greatest added value is the time we save by using Bookster, as well as the fact that double bookings have disappeared.
About Casa Palana
Casa Palana is a luxury villa in Playa Blanca, on the southern tip of Lanzarote. Anthony and his family of four bought it when it was already a holiday let. They kept the existing guests and added more booking channels to attract new ones.
From the start, the family wanted Casa Palana to be a quiet, luxurious place to stay. So they only accept adults.
This helps avoid issues with neighbours and means they have more respectful guests. It has also allowed the family to keep investing in the property and add many first-class features and ideas.
The family run the villa from a distance, so they rely on a local team for cleaning, maintenance and sorting out problems. Guests often mention that team, and the upgrades to the villa, in their reviews and in emails. Many say these are the reasons they chose Casa Palana, and the reasons they came back.
"In our opinion, this proves that taking really good care of your property and your guests brings a lot of positive guest reviews and returning bookings,"
says Anthony.
Before Bookster: spreadsheets, folders and a costly mistake
At first, Anthony ran everything himself with an Excel file and a separate folder on his computer for every booking. Each time a booking was confirmed and the deposit paid, he had to add it to every booking site by hand.
"It took me a lot of time, and there was always the risk of making mistakes"
The admin kept going after the booking came in...
- Anthony kept checking his calendar so he could tell the local team when guests were arriving and leaving;
- He had to email guests eight weeks before arrival to ask for the final payment;
- Then, the week before they arrived, he sent another email with directions to the villa, the entrance code and information about the area.
All of this took time, but...
One mistake was what made him change
On one occasion, a booking was not added to one of the booking channels, and someone subsequently booked the villa for a period that was already booked.
''The guest was not willing to understand that I had made a mistake and that the villa was already booked. I was banned from that booking channel for four weeks because I had to decline a booking.''
"That was the moment I started looking for a more reliable solution."
Choosing Bookster
Anthony searched online for booking software, starting with Belgian companies. He was close to choosing a Belgian developer that had mostly worked with small hotels and was only starting to adapt its software for holiday homes. Then he found Bookster.
A first online chat with Adam from Bookster changed how he saw the whole process.
''I felt that he understood the problems I was experiencing with my own system and my rather basic website. At first, I thought it was too good to be true, as the number of features available in the basic priced model was enormous.''
Anthony and his partner decided to give it a try.
"It felt to me that Bookster had everything we needed to create a smooth workflow, with repetitive tasks being handled automatically."
Onboarding: about an hour to get set up
Switching systems can feel like a big job when you're the one taking the bookings. For Anthony, it was easier than he expected.
The onboarding was very successful and straightforward: ''As far as I remember, it took about one hour to get everything set up.''
After the first online call, Anthony added information, photos, prices and availability to his Bookster account. On a second call, the Bookster team sorted out the remaining details and connected his booking channels. "All the questions I had during the setup were answered incredibly quickly", he says.
Bookster in action
Before Bookster, the two biggest drains on Anthony's time were updating every booking channel and following up on every booking. Bookster now does both.
With the channel manager keeping availability up to date on every site, Anthony's job looks very different:
''Now, I only need to communicate with (potential) guests, adapt prices once a year, add our own holidays and, from time to time, add a booking to the system, as online booking is not easy for some guests. This leaves me more time to do some online advertising, which generates more bookings.''
Keeping the local team informed
Casa Palana's local management company has its own login to Bookster, with access to limited information. They can see arrivals, departures and special notes such as late check-outs without waiting for Anthony to pass them on.
Anthony also added the Bookster calendar to a Gmail calendar. He gets an email two days before every arrival and departure and forwards it to the management company, so they have a second reminder.
Automated guest emails
Last year, the family started using Bookster's automated emails. One week before arrival, every guest gets an email with more information about Lanzarote and a link to the villa's welcome brochure. It also tells them that the key box code will arrive the day before they do.
After the holiday, guests get another email asking them to fill in a short online form about the villa and their stay.
You can read more about how Bookster helps you manage guests and manage bookings.
Support that delivers
When the family want to add a new booking channel, they ask Laëtitia from Bookster for help through the chat or by email.
This is usually arranged within a few days (or even a few hours sometimes). The service desk at Bookster is a real service desk: it delivers what it promises.
Once a year, Anthony has an online meeting with Laëtitia. They look at what Casa Palana might be missing, go through any questions and talk about what has changed in Bookster. "This is a great way to stay in contact and keep our setup up to date."
The results
For Anthony, the difference comes down to two things: time, and peace of mind.
- No more double bookings. Since moving to Bookster, the kind of mistake that got him banned from a channel hasn't happened again.
- No more updating every channel by hand. Bookings and availability stay in sync across all of Casa Palana's channels.
- Less guest admin. Pre-arrival information and post-stay feedback requests go out automatically.
- More time to grow. The hours Anthony used to spend on admin now go into online advertising, which brings in more bookings.
"We would definitely recommend Bookster," he says...
"It makes the whole process so much easier, especially when we remember how we used to manage everything in the past."
Frequently Asked Questions
- How long did it take Casa Palana to get set up on Bookster?
- About an hour, according to Anthony. After the first online call he added his photos, prices and availability, and the Bookster team connected his booking channels on a second call.
- Has Bookster stopped double bookings?
- Yes. Before Bookster, a booking that wasn't copied to one channel led to a double booking and a four-week ban from that channel. Since switching, Anthony says double bookings have disappeared.
- Can a local cleaning or management team use Bookster too?
- Yes. Casa Palana's local management company has its own login with access to limited information, so they can check arrivals, departures and notes such as late check-outs.
- What guest emails can Bookster send automatically?
- Casa Palana sends every guest an email a week before arrival with information about Lanzarote and a link to the welcome brochure, and another after the stay asking for feedback through an online form.
- Would Casa Palana recommend Bookster to other holiday rental owners?
- Definitely. Anthony says the time saved and the end of double bookings are what he values most.
Anthony and his family went from a spreadsheet, a folder for every booking and a ban from one booking channel to a setup that runs largely by itself.
Bookster keeps Casa Palana's channels in sync, emails guests at the right time and keeps the local team informed, so the family can spend their time on their guests and on bringing in more bookings.
