Jaguar Stay makes business growth simple with Little Hotelier

Jaguar Stay is an idyllic villa accommodation property nestled on the south coast of NSW, Australia.

Situated just behind the local zoo in the tourist-friendly town of Mogo, Jaguar Stay encompasses six villas on 170 acres of land with 3.5km of river frontage for guests to stroll along peacefully as they watch the kangaroos and birdlife.

Kellie Plenty along with her husband Ben, brother Dean, and her parents, run the property and operate it truly as a family business.

Watch the video below to hear their story about how Little Hotelier’s all-in-one property management software has made life easier and helped the business to thrive – or read on for the full case study.

A business to treasure and one that guests love

For Kellie, the magic of running a hospitality business comes from doing it successfully as a family unit.

“I’m really, really, proud of the standard and the quality of product that we’ve built. And that we’ve managed to do it just with our little family and we’ve done it all together,” she said.

“Jaguar Stay is six luxury, self-contained, private villas. It has some beautiful views out to the great dividing range and our guests love going for walks along the river,” Kellie continued. “We do get told a lot that the drive in on our driveway is pretty magical. There’s lots of kangaroos and wildlife to see.”

“Running Jaguar Stay and building the business is my mom, dad, brother, my husband, and myself. We do it all together as a family.”

Life was ‘hectic’ without Little Hotelier

Even with the unwavering family support, running a popular accommodation business is no easy feat. It’s even harder without the proper backend systems in place to keep everything running smoothly. Kellie testified to this, saying a solution like Little Hotelier was much needed.

“Running the business without the help of Little Hotelier was hectic. I used Google Calendar at that stage. Every time I would get a booking from any channel, it would have to go in the calendar, then I would have to individually update all of those channels, and it was a case of double handling, every night going through the bookings,” she explained. “It was time that I wanted to spend with my kids and my family at home.”

“Little Hotelier has completely changed the way we operate. Now I can focus more on what I can offer the guests and how to make their experience better. I’m able to check the app anywhere I am. Sometimes I have people request a certain villa, so I can just really easily move the guests in and out of rooms.”

This efficiency and flexibility has freed a lot of time for Kellie and her family, giving them back valuable personal interactions. 

Results that speak for themselves

Life and business admin doesn’t just become simpler with Little Hotelier – profitability does too. Little Hotelier’s features also make it easier to win bookings and maximise revenue, allowing businesses to reach and exceed their goals.

For Kellie and the family, this meant expanding Jaguar Stay and making it available to more guests. Prior to using Little Hotelier, the property only consisted of three villas. Now there are six operating simultaneously.

Kellie explained that Little Hotelier gave her the confidence to open another three villas and run them as smoothly as the rest.

“Our guests can book instantly, pay instantly, and I also have their details on record so if there’s any extras that they’ve asked for, I can charge their card without having to go back to them. Having Little Hotelier in place, set up, and managing everything as smoothly as it does, I just do my job and get to pick up my kids from school and be home with them in the afternoon,” she said.

Additionally, Little Hotelier has allowed Jaguar Stay to sell its rooms on six different booking channels, compared to two previously. With automated inventory management, all booking information is shared between Jaguar and the booking channels like Booking.com, without any human intervention required.

“I wouldn’t be able to advertise on that many channels if I had to do it manually myself,” Kellie stated.

“Before Little Hotelier, we also couldn’t take direct bookings, other than by phone or email. Now, I love that guests can book directly with us online and we can save on commissions.”

Ultimately, it comes down to one statement.

“I couldn’t run this current business without the help of Little Hotelier.”
“It’s changed the way I run my business. It’s changed my personal life because I’ve got more time now. I would 100% recommend Little Hotelier.”

Thank you so much to Kellie and the family at Jaguar Stay for your kind words. We wish you all the best in the future as you continue your journey with us!