Webinar Recap: Highlights from 'Areas, Lodgings, and Transfers'

Picture this: Sarah is the owner of a bustling pet-boarding facility that offers a variety of accommodations, from cozy standard kennels to spacious luxury suites. Like many pet-care businesses, Sarah’s clientele is a mix of long-time regulars and new customers, each with their own unique needs and preferences.

It’s early June, and Sarah is preparing for a summer boarding rush. One of her regulars, a Blue Heeler named Max, is booked for a 10-day stay. Max's parents initially request a standard lodging, which is all that's available when they make the reservation. However, they ask Sarah to upgrade Max to a luxury suite halfway through his stay if one becomes available.

Thanks to Gingr’s lodging transfer functionality, Sarah doesn’t need to go through the clunky processing of canceling and rebooking Max's reservation or manually calculating the pricing differences. Instead, she can seamlessly assign Max to a standard kennel for the first five days, then schedule a transfer to a luxury suite for the remaining five. Now that's operational efficiency at its finest!

With lodging transfers:

• Max’s reservation remains intact—no duplicate bookings or fragmented records.
• Pricing updates automatically based on the lodging type per day, applying the correct rate difference without overcharging or undercharging.
• Staff visibility improves via the Lodging Calendar, where they can clearly see Max’s scheduled move and make arrangements accordingly (e.g., preparing the luxury suite in advance).
• Reports reflect accuracy, with the Lodging Transfer Report indicating Max’s mid-stay move and the Lodging Occupancy Report showing real-time availability for both standard and luxury areas.

This feature becomes even more valuable when multiplied across dozens of pets with similar needs. Whether it’s accommodating late upgrade requests, responding to a pet’s behavior or health during the stay, or simply managing logistical issues like overbooking or maintenance on a specific room, lodging transfers give Sarah the flexibility she needs to operate smoothly.

Without this functionality, Sarah’s team would face time-consuming manual edits, billing inconsistencies, and a greater risk of errors in room assignments. With Gingr’s lodging transfers, they have a scalable, structured solution that ensures pets are well cared for and that the business runs efficiently.

Webinar Recap: Mastering Areas, Lodgings, and Transfers in Gingr

As you know, managing pet accommodations within a facility requires meticulous organization. In our recent webinar, "Areas, Lodgings, and Transfers," our experts provided an in-depth exploration of how to effectively set up and manage these components within Gingr. Here are the highlights any boarding facility or businesses booking pets for a stay away needs to know.

Understanding Areas and Lodgings

The foundational elements of facility management are Areas and Lodgings within the Gingr system. An Area represents a specific room or section within your facility, such as a "Boarding Room" or "Luxury Suites." Within each Area, Lodgings are the individual spaces—kennels, runs, or suites—where pets are housed. For instance, an Area labeled "Suites" might contain Lodgings named "Suite 1," "Suite 2," and so on.

These structures are crucial for organizing your facility's layout and ensuring that each pet has an assigned space during their stay. It's important to note that customers do not see the names of Areas or Lodgings; these are internal designations to aid in facility management .

Setting Up Lodging Transfers

Lodging transfers allow pets to move from one lodging to another during their stay, such as transitioning from a standard room to a luxury suite. Implementing this feature involves several steps:

1. Create Dummy Reservation Types: Duplicate your existing reservation types to serve as placeholders for transfers. For example, if you have a "Boarding Standard" reservation type, create a "Lodging Transfer Standard" type with the same rate.
2. Assign Lodging Types: Tag each lodging with a specific type (e.g., "Standard" or "Luxury") to distinguish between different accommodation levels.
3. Configure Pricing Rules: Set up rules that automatically adjust the reservation type and rate when a lodging transfer occurs. This ensures accurate billing without manual calculations.

While the setup process is detailed, once configured, lodging transfers become a seamless part of your reservation workflow.

Utilizing the Lodging Calendar

The Lodging Calendar is a dynamic tool that provides a visual representation of your facility's occupancy. It displays a weekly view of all Areas and Lodgings, allowing staff to:

• View Occupancy Levels: See the percentage of occupied lodgings for each day.
• Manage Reservations: Edit reservations directly from the calendar, including adjusting dates and lodging assignments.
• Handle Transfers: Identify and manage lodging transfers with ease, ensuring pets are moved to the correct accommodations at the right times.

This calendar enhances operational efficiency by providing real-time insights into lodging availability and assignments .

Reporting Tools for Lodging Management

Gingr offers several reports to help monitor and manage lodging assignments:

• Lodging Occupancy Report: Provides statistics on the number of lodgings booked, allowing you to compare current occupancy with historical data.
• Lodging Transfer Report: Lists all pets scheduled to move from one lodging to another on a specific date, detailing their current and future accommodations.
• Missing Lodgings Report: Identifies reservations that lack an assigned lodging for any part of their stay, enabling staff to address gaps promptly .

These reports are essential for maintaining accurate records and ensuring optimal use of your facility's resources.

Move Max (Or Any Pet) With Ease

Implementing Areas, Lodgings, and Transfers in Gingr requires careful planning and setup. However, once established, these features significantly simplify how you move pets like Max from area to area within your facility. 

Do more with Gingr — made by pet lovers, for pet lovers. Get a demo today!