Seekom gives Kauri Court owners time to provide ‘Kiwi hospitality as it should be’
Owners: Neil and Amber Aitkenhead
Palmerston North has no shortage of places to stay. With dozens of accommodation providers competing for guests across the city, standing out takes more than a comfortable bed.
For Neil and Amber Aitkenhead, who invested in Kauri Court Motel & Apartments in 2024, the answer is straightforward: people matter, so be genuinely good to people and make sure the business’ systems run smoothly enough behind the scenes to let you do exactly that.
“Hospitality as it used to be, accommodation as it should be, that's Kauri Court’s tagline,” Neil says.
“We’re family run and operated and great hospitality is what we're all about."
Providing great service needs time and presence to deliver, so Neil and Amber are hands-on owner-managers; greeting guests, keeping standards high, and making sure people feel genuinely looked after rather than just checked in.
Neil says they pride themselves on taking extra time to ‘check in’ with people before they arrive, making sure they have what they need to ensure their stay is a positive experience.
None of that would be possible, though, if the operational side of running the motel was eating up the day.
The Seekom advantage
When Neil and Amber took ownership, Kauri Court Motel & Apartments was spread across three separate systems. They made an early call to switch to Seekom property management software – a decision made easy, thanks to the knowledge some members of Amber's family who own holiday parks around New Zealand and have long relied on Seekom to run them.
"Amber's family has a few holiday parks around New Zealand and they all use Seekom, so she knew how good it was," Neil says.
Now, bookings made through the motel's own website feed directly into Seekom, which updates room availability in real time across every listing channel Kauri Court uses – including overseas travel agents (OTAs). Double bookings can be a problem for operators on systems, Neil says, but with Seekom they simply don’t happen. SeekomPay takes care of payments. The admin that once required juggling multiple platforms now runs seamlessly.
"When I talk to other accommodation providers about the alternative systems they use, I'm both mystified and surprised at all the steps they have to go through. Seekom just makes it easy for us."
With the friction of accommodation management removed, Neil and Amber can give their attention to guests and the welcome that has earned Kauri Court Motel & Apartments such great guest reviews.
The motel offers something relatively rare in Palmerston North: genuine variety under one roof. Its 16 rooms span 12 executive studios and four multi-room modern apartments with inter-connecting options, making it well suited to visitors in town for events or special occasions, large family groups, sports teams, and business travellers alike.
The motel sits five minutes’ walk from the Esplanade and Manawatū River and 15 minutes’ walk from the CBD, including George Street and Broadway, two of Palmerston North's most popular dining and café strips – places Neil and Amber are happy to make personalised recommendations on.
In a city with as many accommodation choices as Palmerston North, Kauri Court's combination of personal service and room variety gives it a strong foundation. The right systems quietly reinforce that – handling the bookings, the payments, and the channel management so Neil and Amber can stay focused on what they enjoy most.
"We're people people. It fills our bucket to see returning guests to Manawatū, Seekom is key to our success".
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Wānaka’s largest holiday-home booking platform grows with Seekom
Co-owners: Mandy and Wayne Enoka
When Mandy and Wayne Enoka launched the Wānaka Selection booking platform in 2010 with big ambitions for future growth, they knew they needed a property management system they could rely on to help it evolve alongside Wānaka’s flourishing tourism scene.
Mandy says after starting off with a manual system, and experimenting with a few different accommodation-management systems, they settled on Seekom because it could cope with the different types of properties they managed.
“It was really hard to find an option that would suit the houses and the growth of the houses and that’s where Seekom came in.
“It worked because it was slightly more of a hotel-based system than some of the specific holiday house-style systems, which don't work well with our multiple interconnecting units."
Mandy says Seekom’s software proved ideal to manage Wānaka Selection and their own property Te Wānaka Lodge from day one, with the initial onboarding and support being “absolutely brilliant”.
Wānaka Selection has the most impressive portfolio of any regional booking site in Wānaka, offering 85 high-end holiday homes and apartments to guests seeking luxury accommodation in the town’s awe-inspiring alpine surroundings.
She says Seekom is a trusted silent partner helping both businesses thrive with homeowners feeling supported and guests enjoying seamless booking experiences, she says.
“Seekom was able to cope with the growth of our business, and we’ve had massive growth, with the holiday houses we’ve gone from one property to 85 now.”
Timely support valued
Mandy says one of the highlights of Seekom for her is its ability to make a property visible and bookable immediately across various booking channels and online travel agencies when a new property owner lists their home on Wānaka Selection.
"One of Seekom’s best offerings to us is having people working for them that understand our business and understand our time restraints."
"Once we get photographs done there is an expectation from our owners that their property is going to be live and running on multiple websites immediately. Seekom are great at being able to onboard as we’ve grown."
Giving owners control
Homeowners love Wānaka Selection's homeowner portal, a Seekom tool that gives them direct access to view bookings and manage their own availability, without revealing sensitive information, Mandy says.
It also lets homeowners be aware of future bookings and make calculated decisions on rates depending on the performance returns they’re looking for, as well as making it simple for them to book out their own properties and enjoy them over prime summer periods.
“Additional offerings like the homeowner portal mean we're not having to deal with homeowner bookings and a huge amount of extra admin looking after not only our guests but also the house owner parts.
“For our business we have two clients for every property we’ve got. The homeowner is a client to us and without them we wouldn’t have a business, but also the guests – without them we wouldn’t have a business. The portal and Seekom help us offer good service to both.”
Mandy says she’s proud of how Wānaka Selection and Te Wānaka Lodge have developed over time, with the lodge operating as a family-run business for around 35 years, mirroring Wānaka’s growth as a tourist destination.
She says when she started in the accommodation-management business, Wānaka was the “poor cousin over the hill” to Queenstown, but now things have changed.
“We have our own unique selling points and our own unique story, and I think that has elevated Wānaka now to a really fantastic place in the New Zealand market.”
For accommodation providers looking to manage multiple properties or run a regional booking platform, Wānaka Selection demonstrates how the right accommodation-management software provider can help property managers flourish – just like Wānaka.
Note: Something you may not know is that we also build websites. Many of our customers have Seekom-built, self managed websites with full control, backed by our expert setup and support. If you’re interested in finding out more, please get in touch.
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Kauri Coast TOP 10 Holiday Park
Star of sustainability: Award-winning holiday park supported by Seekom
Manager: Tracy Holster
Nestled between the ancient Waipoua Forest and stunning Kai Iwi Lakes in Northland, Kauri Coast TOP 10 Holiday Park highlights how nurturing nature is a winning way to keep generations of families coming back year after year.
Manager Tracy Holster says winning the Sustainability Excellence Award at the 2025 TOP 10 Holiday Parks Awards in September reflects the guardianship her team show for the local environment and its people.
“It's a really special place. We're in a stunning location with beautiful native trees, birds and eels on site, and glowworms right on our doorstep – we’re incredibly proud to be recognised for our sustainability practices.”
Tracy describes Kauri Coast as a ‘destination park’ – a place New Zealanders return to year after year and where international guests come to experience the beauty of Northland
“Some people have kept coming back for over a decade, with visits spanning across generations.”
Tracy says she discovered Seekom’s property management software six years ago and hasn’t looked back. The park now uses it for everything from booking and housekeeping management to reporting and guest communications.
“It's good, I wouldn't change from Seekom. There's great support available and I like the simplicity of it.
I can log in on my phone and use it when I'm not on site as well. I just find it easy to use.”
The TOP 10 Holiday Parks Sustainability Excellence Award considers sustainability, culture and heritage, and community engagement, and Kauri Coast TOP 10 scored highly on its way to securing the win.
Tracy says one of the park's most fun sustainability initiative is a boat race held at Easter and New Year’s Eve. Guests build boats from recyclable materials and race them down a river that runs through the park.
The event has been running for more than five years and has become a highlight of guests’ stays, with hundreds of people lining the riverbanks to cheer the recycled boats on. After a winner crosses the line, the boats are all caught by a net and recycled.
“It helps spread the message that many materials we think are trash can be re-used,” Tracy says.
Cultural connection is integrated throughout the park's operations. Tracy says all staff are trained in the values promoted by New Zealand tourism industry’s Tiaki Promise, and well versed in the park’s environmental and sustainability policies. That ensures the parks aims and objectives are embraced by the whole team.
Story boards share the history of local flora and fauna, while self-guided Kiwi-spotting tours are available a short drive away, and QR codes with authentic kiwi and morepork calls help guests engage with wildlife, and information about kauri die back is displayed throughout the park. Tāne Mahuta, the largest known kauri tree in Aotearoa, towers over the nearby Waipoua Forest, welcoming visitors to experience its majestic presence.
Tracy says the park hires local staff to support the community and draw on their cultural knowledge and connection to the land, enriching the guest experience with authentic, culturally rooted insights.
Underpinning the park’s success are TOP 10 Holiday Parks’ values of respect, integrity, team loyalty and excellence, intertwined with its support of the Tiaki Promise, which encourages visitors and operators to respect the environment, community and cultural heritage of Aotearoa and to travel with an open heart and open mind.
As the holiday park heads towards another busy summer season, Tracy says her team won’t be resting on their laurels.
“We'll definitely keep focusing on sustainability and exploring new ways of doing things. Even small actions can have a big impact.”
With Seekom software under the hood and a trophy cabinet now sporting a brand-new award, Kauri Coast TOP 10 Holiday Park is living proof that sustainability, efficiency and guest satisfaction can all exist in harmony. All it takes are the right systems and a desire to care for your little patch of the world, leaving it a better place for all who come after you.
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Seekom provides ‘freedom from the office’ for family-run holiday park
Owner and manager: Debbie and Repi
Guests make the trip to Levin TOP 10 Holiday Park to get away from it all, so it’s perhaps no surprise ‘freedom’ is also one of first words that comes to mind for owner Debbie Wright when describing the difference Seekom makes for the business.
“It’s freedom from the office,” she says. “Seekom is easy for me to access on mobile, which is great if I’m out around the park doing recycling or other tasks and need to manage things on the go.”
Debbie and husband Repi have owned the park for 13 years, nurturing it into an idyllic holiday hotspot that’s popular with people looking for a relaxed small-town stay a short drive from the beach, rivers and the best of the New Zealand outdoors.
Debbie says the lifestyle and being close to family living in the area are big reasons Repi and her made the move to Levin back in April of 2012, calling time on a teaching career to try their hand at hospitality.
Finding a way to manage the business in a way that balances work and time with family has always been a priority, so they switched the park’s property management system to Seekom after finding their old system didn’t have the flexibility they needed. They were receiving more bookings and they needed a way to manage everything in one place, all while juggling three kids and the demands of a growing business.
“Our old system was working well enough, until we needed more. Seekom can do everything we need.”
The park office closes for a few hours in the middle of the day, so being able to manage things on a mobile means Debbie, Repi and their team member Tania can still keep an eye on bookings and look after other tasks without being stuck at their desks.
Debbie says the system is “intuitive, and easy to learn”, and if she or her team ever need help, customer support is readily available.
“That customer service has improved hugely in the last couple of years. We’re a smaller business, but Seekom still goes out of its way to help.”
With summer approaching, her team is crossing its fingers for sunny weather and a steady flow of holidaymakers, including the many Wellingtonians who have so often made the short trip north for weekend escapes at the park in the past.
“It’s a great place to get away to for the weekend if you live in a city,” Debbie says.
“Levin is nice and cruisy and you can drive 20 minutes down to the beach to watch the sun go down. There are rivers to dip your toes into, and for little kids, there are lots of playgrounds. Our produce sector is huge too, with lots of berries and fresh veges.”
Their children are now on their teens and Debbie and Repi now live off site, but they have no plans to change industry again or retire any time soon.
“We enjoyed teaching, enjoyed working overseas and the corporate thing in Auckland, but we really love it here. The guests, our team, the community and the park are great”.
Note: Something you may not know is that we also build websites. Many of our customers have Seekom-built, self managed websites with full control, backed by our expert setup and support. If you’re interested in finding out more, please get in touch.
Contact Us
4/234 Wakefield Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011
Phone (NZ) : +64 4 974 9588
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How Seekom Helps Staff Stay Stress-Free at Spring Creek Holiday Park
Managers: Judy and Gert Theron
Running a popular holiday park is no small task, but Seekom’s property management system has made operations much smoother for managers Judy and Gert Theron.
Nestled just outside Blenheim, Spring Creek Holiday Park spans 5.5 acres with 74 campsites and 26 units, offering travellers a picturesque getaway in New Zealand’s magical Marlborough region.
A seamless booking system and efficient, warm guest communications are vital to the holiday experience, and thankfully Judy knows a good system when she sees one.
Judy says she immediately saw the value in Seekom’s software when she and Gert came on as the managers of the holiday park four years ago.
“The more you use the system, the more you get out of it,” she says. “Some users just use it for bookings, but you can utilise it for reporting, payments, and all your guest communications.”
One of the most recent Seekom features Spring Creek Holiday Park has implemented is SMS messaging, a tool that has quickly become an integral part of their day-to-day operations.
“We started using it in October or November, just after it launched, and now we use it every single day.”
From notifying late arrivals of their site numbers to sending gentle payment reminders, SMS messaging has transformed the way Spring Creek Holiday Park interacts with guests. Unlike emails, which can go unread while guests are enjoying their holidays, text messages ensure quick responses and seamless communication.
She says the park has found guests respond to SMS messages more quickly than email as a lot of people don’t check their emails regularly while on holiday.
Seekom’s PMS doesn’t just enhance guest interactions – it also frees up valuable time for Judy and her team.
“I can get things done quickly, which leaves me a little bit of time for a glass of wine in the evening.”
The system is also very easy to learn, which is essential for a busy team.
“It literally took me 48 hours when I first arrived, and I was up and running. And when I train my staff to use it, they pick it up really fast.”
Seekom plays a crucial role in keeping Spring Creek Holiday Park running smoothly, with three office staff regularly using the system.
“We are really happy with Seekom. You just have to get the right package that works for you, but when you do, it is really powerful.”
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Contact Us
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