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".

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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Your Winter Security Checklist: Small Steps That Make a Big Difference

Winter is a good time to take stock. The team gets a breather, and there's finally a moment to look after the things that often get pushed to the back of the queue. Security is usually one of those things.

It doesn't have to be complicated. A few simple habits go a long way towards keeping your property and your guests safe online. So here's a quick checklist. Run through it with your team and you'll be in good shape going into the busy season.

Clean up your user accounts:

This is the one most properties skip, and it's probably the most important. Had a staff member leave in the last six months? A seasonal worker who came and went? Log into your Seekom account and check who still has access. Old accounts that are no longer in use are an open door, and one that's easy to close.

While you're there, make sure every team member has their own individual login. Shared logins might feel convenient, but they make it impossible to know who did what, and they're much harder to secure.

Switch on Two-Factor Authentication:

If you haven't already enabled Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) on your Seekom account, winter is the perfect time to sort it out. 2FA means that even if someone gets hold of a team member's password, they still can't get in without a second verification step. It's one of the simplest and most effective things you can do to protect your account, and it takes about five minutes to set up.

Our support team is happy to walk you through it. Just give us a call or drop us a message during business hours.

Stop sharing passwords:

We know, we know. It's easier to just tell the new person the password. But shared passwords are one of the most common ways accounts get compromised.

The good news is there's no reason to share passwords in Seekom. Every account can have unlimited individual users, so everyone gets their own login with their own access level. Set it up once and you'll never need to share a password again.

Update your passwords, not just your staff list:

Removing old user accounts is step one. But if a former team member knew your passwords, changing the locks matters too. Go through your key systems - your PMS, email accounts, OTA extranets, social media, and update any passwords that might have been shared with someone who’s no longer with you.

While you're at it, make sure passwords aren't being reused across different platforms. If one account gets compromised and the password is the same everywhere, the damage spreads fast. A password manager can take the headache out of keeping track of them all.

Tighten up your email security:

Your email account is the key to the kingdom. If someone gets into it, they can reset passwords for pretty much everything else. Yet email is often the last thing people think to protect.

A few quick wins:

Enable two-factor authentication on your business email account, not just your PMS
Check who has access to shared inboxes like info@ or reservations@ and remove anyone who no longer needs it
Be careful about what you include in automated guest emails. Avoid putting full booking reference numbers or personal details in subject lines where they can be easily read
If you get an email that looks like it's from a supplier or OTA asking you to update payment details or click a link, call them directly to verify before doing anything

Watch out for phishing emails:

Phishing is when someone sends you an email pretending to be a trusted source, trying to get you to hand over your login details or click a dodgy link. It happens more than you'd think in the accommodation industry.

The recent Booking.com breach is a good example of how this plays out. Once scammers had real guest data, including booking details and contact information, they used it to send convincing messages that looked like they came from a legitimate source. Guests were contacted via WhatsApp and email and asked to verify their payment details.

A few things to remind your team:

Seekom will never ask for your password by email or phone
If an email asks you to click a link and log in, go directly to the website instead of clicking
When in doubt, call the company directly using a number you already know
If something feels off, it probably is. Trust your gut and check with us

Review what data you're collecting from guests:

Take a look at your booking form and ask yourself: do we actually need all of this? A lot of properties collect more than they need. Dates of birth, passport numbers, dietary requirements for a property that doesn't serve meals. The less guest data you hold, the less there is to lose if something goes wrong.

Strip your forms back to what you genuinely use. It's better for your guests, better for your liability, and it makes your life simpler too.

Make sure your payment setup is secure:

If you're taking online payments, it's worth checking that 3D Secure (3DS) authentication is active on your SeekomPay setup. It adds a bank-level verification step for cardholders, which reduces fraud and protects your revenue from chargebacks.

Not sure if you have it switched on? Drop our support team a message and they'll check for you.

Start with whatever feels most overdue for your property. Even ticking off one or two things from this list will put you in a stronger position than you were yesterday. And if you need a hand with any of it, our support team is here. Give us a call or flick us a message and we’ll help you get sorted.