Services and starting prices

A structured, independent look at the whole business, so you know what to fix first.

What I look at

• Rooms and housekeeping: standards, cleanliness, maintenance, linen and amenities, against TGCSA-style criteria.
• Food and beverage: menu, kitchen and service flow, stock control, gross profit and supplier terms.
• Guest experience: the journey from first enquiry to check-out, online reviews and service recovery.
• Revenue: rates, occupancy, channel mix, OTA listings, direct bookings and how easy your website is to book.
• Costs: payroll, utilities, energy and water, procurement and fixed overheads.
• Staffing: structure, rosters, skills, SOPs, training and labour-law basics.

What you get

• A written report with a red, amber or green score for each area.
• A prioritised action plan: quick wins (30 days), medium term (90 days) and longer term.
• A close-out session with you, on site or by video call.

Typical timing: 2 days on site, then the report within 10 working days of the visit.

An unannounced visit as an ordinary paying guest, scored against a scorecard we agree before the visit.

What's covered

• Mystery diner: booking or walk-in, welcome, wait times, menu knowledge, food quality and presentation, upselling, cleanliness, bathrooms, billing and farewell.
• Mystery overnight guest: the full stay, from the first enquiry, email and phone response, through check-in, the room, housekeeping, food, activities and spa where offered, to billing and check-out.
• Discreet photo evidence where appropriate.

What you get

• A scored report with a percentage per touchpoint and overall.
• Strengths, gaps and practical fixes, ranked by impact on guests.
• A verbal debrief within 48 hours and the written report within 5 working days.

For owners who live away, are stretched, or are between managers.

Options

• Oversight retainer: about 3 days a month, on site or remote. A monthly management meeting, a review of your financials, bookings and reviews, and support for your on-site manager.
• Part-time management: about 8 days a month of hands-on management of operations, staff, suppliers and reporting.
• Interim General Manager: full time on site to cover a vacancy, extended leave, a sale or a change of ownership.

What you get

• A monthly management report and KPI dashboard: occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, food and beverage gross profit, payroll ratio, energy costs and review scores.
• An agreed action list, updated every month.
• A hand-over pack for your permanent manager at the end of an interim placement.

Availability is limited and by arrangement, because I still run Qambathi. Let's talk about what you need and when.

What's included

• Set-up (once off): choosing or cleaning up your PMS, channel manager set-up and room and rate mapping, new or refreshed OTA listings (Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia, Airbnb and others), a booking engine on your website, rate plans, policies and a seasonal calendar.
• Monthly management (optional): rates and availability, rate parity across channels, OTA content and photos, review responses, competitor-rate checks, and enquiry and reservation handling to agreed response times.
• A monthly report on occupancy, ADR, channel mix, commission costs and your direct-booking share.

Why me: I moved Qambathi from InnStyle to RoomRaccoon in October 2026, so I know what a PMS change involves from the owner's side.

For new owners, investors and conversions.

What's included

• Concept and feasibility: target market, positioning, room and menu mix, pricing and a first-year budget.
• Pre-opening plan: the critical path from now to opening day, with owners, suppliers and dates.
• Systems: PMS, channel manager, booking engine, point of sale and OTA listings ready before opening.
• People: organogram, job descriptions, recruitment support, induction and training.
• Operations: suppliers and local sourcing, opening inventories, health and safety, licences and TGCSA grading readiness.
• Energy and water: practical advice on solar, backup power and water from day one, from an owner who has taken a lodge fully off-grid. (Advisory only: design sign-off, installation and certificates of compliance stay with registered installers and electricians.)
• SOPs and manuals: a standard operating procedures library, staff manuals and daily, weekly and monthly checklists, also available on their own for an existing property or a small group.

What you get: a concept paper, first-year budget and critical path; configured systems and live listings at opening; editable SOPs, manuals and checklists; a soft-opening review and a 30-day post-opening check.

For properties losing money, guests or staff. I bought Qambathi in 2019 and have run it ever since; this is the work I know best.

What's included

• Diagnostic: a fast review of cash, costs, revenue, reviews, product and team, with an urgent "stop the bleeding" list.
• Turnaround plan: 90 days, with clear targets, owners and weekly checkpoints.
• Implementation: hands-on support on site and remotely: cost cuts, rate and channel fixes, menu engineering, staff restructuring support, product refresh and reputation recovery.
• Regular reporting to owners, partners or lenders.

Turnarounds depend on the owner's commitment and the cash available. No outcome is guaranteed, and we'll talk about that plainly before any work starts.