As part of our monthly client spotlight, we want to share with you how a current rezStream client has achieved success with our cloud-based reservation software.

About Golden Anchor Cabins

Golden Anchor  Cabins is an owner-operated, vacation rental business in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. Their primary audience consists of honeymooners and couples seeking romantic accommodations for a short getaway. They offer fully stocked luxury cabins each complete with a cathedral ceiling, panoramic windows, an outdoor hot tub, a gas log fireplace, and luxurious details such as heated tile floors. They also provide extras such as chocolate covered strawberries, rose petals, and custom music playlists during their stay.

The property is run by a husband and wife duo, managing eight cabins with the full-time help of their son and part-time cleaning person.

Golden Anchor Cabins first became a customer of rezStream back in 2014 with the purchase of our reservation software. They made the switch to our rezStream Cloud in 2015 and upgraded their website to our TCMS website platform in early 2019.

We sat down with Daniel (property owner) from Golden Anchor Cabins and asked him a few questions about his experience with rezStream and how it has helped his business. Here is what he had to say:

Question 1 - What challenges or needs do you face in your industry that led you to a solution like rezStream?

Golden Anchor Cabins: “The Golden Anchor Cabins was established in 2002 and grew its customer base slowly via small vacation listing sites, roadside fliers and word of mouth. A two-page website was built by a local high school boy in 2006 using low-resolution photos taken by a local realtor. The site had no online booking and no availability calendar. The reservations were taken 100% over the phone and logged on paper.”

“This was the state of the business until 2014 when we purchased the property from the original owners.  My wife and I saw the property's potential and understood that a modern website with online booking was critical to maximize on that potential. At the time of the purchase, their annual occupancy was 55%.”

“We also saw how incredibly hands-on the owners had to be because of the lack of information and tools they were provided on the website. Every inquiry and transaction was handled over the phone. Every reservation and payment were logged by hand. Since I planned to continue running another business while operating the cabin rentals, I knew we needed a solution that minimized as much paperwork as possible.”

Question 2 - Describe your selection process and what criteria you were looking for when choosing an agency?

Golden Anchor Cabins: I was looking for a few specific things –

1. Seamless integration from the website to the booking engine
2. Super simple user booking engine for potential guests
3. An interface for me to manage the guest database, reservations, and rates
4. Credit card payment collection
5. I wanted to be able to access 100% of the management interface on my phone
6. Automatic emails

“The new Cloud-based system is rock solid.” – Daniel from Golden Anchor Cabins

Question 3 - Why did you choose rezStream over the competition?

Golden Anchor Cabins: “We started by looking at our competitors' websites, searching for the booking engine that was easiest to understand from a guest standpoint. That booking engine company turned out to be rezStream. I set up a meeting with Shon and he gave me a walk-thru with how it worked.  rezStream ticked all my boxes and the price seemed reasonable so I didn't shop around.”

“Since then I have been approached by a number of companies to migrate my information to their platform. From what I've seen of their systems, no one has an option that is in any way superior to rezStream's cloud software.”

Question 4 - What results have you seen since implementing our product/solution?

Golden Anchor Cabins: “Between the cloud software and the new website design, 95% of our phone work and data entry has been eliminated. The cloud software gives me the freedom to operate the business from anywhere. The property's annual occupancy grew from 55% to 70% in the first year. Five years later it is 76% and we have added two more cabins on two more properties. Being able to customize the emails based on unit description has been a game changer for our expansion, allowing us to give guests specific directions based on which cabin they rent.”

“It is wonderfully easy to learn and use.” – Daniel from Golden Anchor Cabins

Question 5 - Does rezStream continue to make upgrades to their system to keep up with the current needs of Innkeepers?

Golden Anchor Cabins: “Yes and in fact the VP, Josh Wise, puts out a newsletter keeping everyone up to date on what they are expanding on along with a regularly updated blog where they talk about trends and tips. He's very approachable and always looking for input from his clients.”

Question 6 - What would you rate rezStream on a scale of one to ten – one being the least satisfied and ten being the most satisfied?

Golden Anchor Cabins: 10!!!!