Himmelev Kattepension

Himmelev Kattepension needed more than an ordinary contact form or an off-the-shelf booking plugin. The solution had to handle capacity, varying booking periods, add-ons, viewings, payments, calendar appointments, changes, and refunds – without making administration more cumbersome than the notebook and manual routines it was meant to replace.

The result is a custom WordPress plugin built specifically around the cattery’s workflows and its customers’ needs. The system gathers the entire booking process in one place: from the customer’s first enquiry to payment, calendar management, the stay itself, changes, and any refunds.

The challenge

Booking a stay at a cattery is not necessarily as simple as picking a date and clicking “Book”. The system has to account for:

• How many spaces are available in the selected period
• Whether capacity varies across the year
• The number of cats in each booking
• Special holiday periods and other exceptions
• Add-ons and extra services
• Information relevant only to particular customers
• Payments, price changes, and refunds
• Viewings and calendar appointments
• Customers’ subsequent changes or cancellations

A standard system would either force the business to adapt its workflows to the software, or require several plugins and external services to be stitched together. Instead, the solution was built from scratch around the way Himmelev Kattepension actually works.

A booking process that calculates real capacity

At the centre of the solution is a custom capacity calculator. When a customer picks arrival and departure dates, the system automatically checks whether there is room for the entire period, accounting for existing bookings and the number of spaces the administrator has made available.

Capacity can be set individually for specific periods, so the cattery can raise or lower availability around holidays, busy periods, renovations, or other operational circumstances.

This gives far more accurate availability than a simple system that only checks a single date, and it reduces the risk of double bookings and manual error handling.

Dynamic booking steps

The booking flow is built from dynamic steps that adapt to the content of the booking. Customers only see the questions, information, and options relevant to their specific booking:

• Details about the cat
• Practical information ahead of the stay
• Selection of extra services
• Upsells and add-ons
• Acceptance of terms
• Special information based on the selected period
• Questions shown only for particular answers

This makes the process clearer for the customer while giving the cattery the information it needs in a structured form. The dynamic steps also drive upsells: relevant add-ons appear at the right moment, without confronting the customer with one long, unwieldy form.

Customer portal with self-service

After booking, customers get access to their own portal, where they can:

• See current and past bookings
• Review booking details
• Adjust relevant information
• Change the booking within the permitted rules
• Cancel the booking
• See payment status
• Access practical information about the stay

Self-service saves time for both the customer and the cattery. Instead of every change going through phone, Messenger, or email, customers can handle much of it themselves — while administration retains control over what can be changed, and when.

Automatic handling of price changes

The administrative booking tool makes it possible to modify existing bookings — for example if the customer wants to extend the stay, add another cat, or buy additional services.

The system automatically recalculates the price and compares it with what the customer has already paid. If the new price is higher, it creates a payment link to send to the customer. If it is lower, it creates a refund for the administrator to review and process.

That removes manual calculations and uncertain interim figures, and the entire price change is documented directly on the booking.

Refund handling for the administrator

Cancellations and price reductions can result in full or partial repayment, so the solution includes a dedicated refund flow showing:

• Which booking the refund relates to
• The amount originally paid
• The new booking value
• The proposed refund amount
• The reason for the refund
• The refund’s current status

This provides a better financial overview and reduces the risk of a refund being forgotten or processed incorrectly.

Deep Google Calendar integration

The system integrates extensively with Google Calendar. Bookings and viewings are created automatically as calendar appointments, so the calendar continuously reflects activity at the cattery. The integration supports:

• Multiple Google calendars
• Automatic calendar selection
• Colour coding of appointments
• Updating appointments when a booking changes
• Deletion or marking on cancellation
• Different appointment types
• Automatic creation of viewings
• Inviting the customer to online appointments

Colour coding makes it easy to distinguish between ordinary bookings, arrivals, departures, viewings, and other activity types. The calendar becomes a practical working tool rather than just another copy of the bookings.

Booking physical and online viewings

Customers can book a viewing directly on the website. When a time is chosen, the system automatically creates the appointment in the relevant Google Calendar.

For a physical viewing, both parties get the necessary details about time and place. For an online viewing, the customer is automatically invited to the calendar appointment so the meeting appears in their own calendar. That minimises manual coordination and makes it easier for potential customers to take the first step.

AI chat that helps customers around the clock

As part of the overall solution, an AI-based chat function has been implemented. It helps customers with typical questions about:

• The booking process
• Opening hours
• Practical matters
• Requirements before the stay
• Drop-off and pick-up
• Payment and cancellation
• The cattery’s facilities and services

The purpose is not to remove personal contact, but to give customers fast answers – also outside normal opening hours – while reducing the volume of repeat questions that would otherwise be answered manually.

Built for the business – not the other way round

A significant part of the project was translating the cattery’s existing workflows into a digital solution. The system is therefore not simply a standard plugin with a new design: the functionality is built specifically around the business’s needs, rules, and daily administration.

That also means the solution can keep evolving as new needs arise, without waiting for an external plugin vendor to maybe add the desired feature.

No ongoing licence or vendor lock-in

A major advantage is that Himmelev Kattepension owns its own system. There is no monthly subscription to an external booking platform and no per-booking fee to a third party. The solution lives in the company’s own WordPress installation and is built for ownership and flexibility.

The customer is not tied to me as a developer either. The code and the solution can be taken over and developed further by another qualified WordPress developer should the need arise. That gives the business real control over its digital solution and minimises the risk of technical vendor lock-in.

The result

Himmelev Kattepension now has a single platform that digitises a large part of both the customer journey and internal administration. The solution delivers:

• More accurate capacity management
• Fewer manual bookings and calendar updates
• Better overview of payments and refunds
• Less administration around changes and cancellations
• A simpler booking experience for the customer
• Room for relevant upselling
• Self-service through the customer portal
• Automatic coordination of viewings
• Round-the-clock customer service via AI chat
• No ongoing licence to an external booking platform
• No lock-in to one particular developer

The result is not just a new booking form, but a custom administration system supporting the whole business – before, during, and after the customer’s booking.