Step 1 of 6
How many of you?
Guests say how many adults and how many children under 16 are coming. The app asks for nothing else until it needs it.
For guests
How guests book
Guests book in six short steps, each on its own page, at the bunkhouse’s own web address and in its colour. The pictures below are the real pages, from a demo bunkhouse.
The demo is a bunkhouse of the visitor’s own, paid for with a test card. Nobody else sees it, no emails are sent and nothing is charged.
Step 2 of 6
The night they arrive
The calendar only lets guests pick nights with beds for the whole group. Full or closed nights can’t be picked, so nobody chooses a date only to be told later that it isn’t available.
On a phone, each night is a square big enough to tap with a thumb. Without JavaScript, each night is a plain link to the next step.
Step 3 of 6
The morning they leave
The calendar then marks the arrival night and shows how long the group can stay, based on the availability of beds, up to the longest stay the bunkhouse allows. A line above the calendar says why it stops where it does.
Step 4 of 6
Where they’ll sleep
Guests choose between beds in a shared room and a room of their own, each priced for their group on their dates. A private room costs the group’s usual rate plus a charge for each bed left empty, and the page says so.
A group too big for one room is offered the fewest rooms that fit them. If nothing fits, the page suggests other dates within a week.
Step 5 of 6
Their details
Guests give their name and email address, and a phone number if they want to. If the email address looks mistyped, the page asks once whether it is right. If the address can’t receive email at all, the page says so before the guest pays.
Next to the button, guests see the deposit, the balance and when it is due, and the last date for each refund.
Step 6 of 6
Pay, and they’re booked
Guests pay on Stripe’s own page, and their beds are held while they pay. If they leave without paying, the beds are released. Back on the bunkhouse’s pages, they see their booking reference, their dates, the type of room they booked and what they have paid.
The page watches for the confirmation email and tells the guest whether it was delivered or bounced, while they are still there to correct the address.
Afterwards
No account, no password
Their own page
The link in the confirmation email opens the guest’s booking, with no account or password needed. Guests who booked online can pay the balance early, change their dates, group or room, or cancel, and they see the new price or the refund before they agree.
Four emails
Reminders, and nothing else
Guests are sent a reminder before the balance is due, a receipt when it is taken, a note a few days before they arrive, and a thank-you after they leave if the owner has written one. Each goes out at an hour staff choose.
Kept for two days
Picking up where they left off
If a guest leaves part way through booking, the first page offers to carry on with their group, dates and room when they come back, for up to two days.