The booking is only the beginning
A guest books a surf week. They choose a room, pay a deposit and receive a confirmation. For the guest, the holiday is taking shape. For the operator, a much longer sequence of work has just started.
Someone needs to collect the balance. Every traveller needs to share their details, complete a waiver and explain when they will arrive. The house team needs a rooming list. The coach needs to know who has never surfed before. The transfer partner needs a flight time, a meeting point and a passenger count.
We built Marnie because these tasks belong to the same experience. The software running them should understand that connection.
The hidden work between separate tools
Most experience businesses don’t begin with a carefully designed software stack. They begin with a website and a booking tool, then add whatever solves the next problem: a spreadsheet for guests, a form for dietary needs, payment links for balances, a waiver service, an email platform and a group chat for the team.
Each tool may do its own job well. The problem appears between them. A guest changes rooms, but the rooming spreadsheet still shows the old choice. A balance is paid, but the reminder email is already queued. A host searches a message thread for an arrival time that someone collected two weeks ago.
The operator becomes the integration: copying, checking and remembering what needs to change elsewhere. That work grows with every departure, location and person involved.
The operator becomes the integration: copying, checking and remembering what needs to change elsewhere.
One operating record, from website to arrival
Marnie connects the public website, booking experience, payments, guest preparation, communication and internal workspace. A reservation carries the context the rest of the business needs: the departure, the people travelling, their accommodation, selected extras and payment schedule.
When a guest adds an airport transfer, it becomes something the arrival team can prepare. When they complete a form, the answer stays with their guest record. When the remaining balance is paid, the payment status changes where the operator checks it. You can follow the booking through the work it creates.
In practice, Marnie can replace a separate booking form, guest spreadsheet, waiver workflow, balance-tracking sheet and schedule of manually sent emails. Your existing website can stay, connected to the booking flow, and your payment provider processes the money.
A website that leads naturally into booking
The customer journey starts before checkout. People need to understand the destination, dates, accommodation, programme and what is included before they choose a trip. Marnie connects those pages to the actual departure a guest can book.
You can keep your existing website and connect a hosted or embedded booking experience, or work with us on a tailored website and booking flow. Either route leads to the same records. The guest should not have to reconstruct their choice on a separate payment form.
Destination guides, articles, FAQs and itinerary pages also have a practical role. They help someone decide, then help the same person prepare. Content should remain useful after the sale.
Prepare every guest, not just the person who paid
One booking can contain several people. The person paying for a twin room is not necessarily the person with a dietary requirement, an equipment request or an insurance document to provide. Each traveller needs their own preparation steps.
Through a guest portal, people can find their payment schedule, complete relevant questions, sign required documents, share travel details and open their itinerary. The operator sees what is complete and what still needs attention, organised by departure.
A surf camp can ask about ability level and board rental. A retreat can collect room preferences, dietary needs and a participant questionnaire. A walking trip can collect meeting-point choices and the information a guide needs. The questions follow the experience being delivered.
Communication that follows the trip
A confirmation should arrive when a booking is confirmed. A balance reminder should follow a due date and an outstanding amount. Arrival instructions should arrive when someone is getting ready to travel.
Marnie lets operators organise branded messages around those events and dates. Preparation links, payment requests, packing guides and meeting points stay close to the booking. Conditions help prevent unnecessary reminders after a guest has completed a step.
Automation takes care of the repeatable parts. Your team can focus on the unusual question, a changed flight or the guest who needs a personal reply.
Give the people running the trip the information they need
The owner, house host, instructor and transfer partner have different jobs. Giving everyone the same spreadsheet makes those jobs harder and shares information more widely than it needs to go.
Marnie organises the operating workspace around departures and locations. The operator can review capacity, payments, guest preparation and outstanding work. Hosts and guides can access the relevant itinerary, arrivals, rooms, guest information and notes for their responsibilities.
A guest-facing itinerary explains the programme. A host briefing explains how to deliver it. Both come from the same trip context, with access chosen for the role. Adding another location should not mean rebuilding the operation in another set of tools.
Built for experience businesses
Camps, retreats, tours and hosted programmes combine several operating models. You might sell a place on a fixed week, include accommodation, take a deposit, ask for information later and involve a local partner in delivering the experience. A normal appointment calendar does not capture that.
Marnie is designed for surf camps, wellness and yoga retreats, adventure operators, group tours, training camps, dive businesses, retreat centres and other experience businesses. It also supports different ways of selling: fixed departures, flexible arrivals, private groups and applications that need approval.
The starting point is the way the business actually runs. We configure dates, room choices, guest questions, schedules and team access around that model.
Simple pricing, with setup included
We believe operators should be able to understand what their software will cost before their next booking arrives. Marnie costs $180 USD per month, with no Marnie booking commission and unlimited team members, locations and departures. Payment processing and applicable third-party services are separate.
Commission-free pricing means a higher-value retreat or a busier season does not trigger a percentage charge from Marnie. Unlimited team access means the people delivering the trip can be included in the system.
Done-for-you setup is part of the same philosophy. Moving software should not leave an operator alone with a blank account. We map the booking journey, configure the agreed setup, connect the website, help with existing records and walk the team through the guest experience.
Where we’re taking Marnie
The direction is a more complete home for the online side of an experience business. Websites, articles, destination information, products, booking, guest communication and operations become more useful when they share the same context.
A destination page should lead to the right departures. A purchased add-on should reach the person delivering it. A changed arrival time should be visible to the host. These are ordinary expectations from an operator’s point of view, and they guide what we build.
Marnie exists to make that connected way of working practical for independent businesses. If you run experiences, we’d like to show you what it looks like with your trips, your guests and your team.
See the complete website, booking and operating setup for a multi-location surf camp.
Read the surf camp project
