How guests book

Step 1 of 5

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, so nobody is put off by a long form before they have seen a date.

Step 2 of 5

When they’re staying

One calendar for both ends of the stay. Guests tap the night they arrive, and the calendar marks it and shows every morning they could leave on, up to the latest the beds and the bunkhouse’s longest stay allow. A second tap picks the morning they leave, and the stay is drawn from one to the other.

Only nights with enough beds for the whole group can be picked, so nobody chooses a date only to be told later that it isn’t available. Works on a phone too. Without JavaScript, each night is a plain link.

Step 3 of 5

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.

A group too big for one room is offered the fewest rooms that fit them.

Step 4 of 5

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.

Next to the button, guests see the deposit, the balance and when it is due, and the last date for each refund.

Step 5 of 5

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.