A mountain cabinthat ran itself for two years.
Brand site · guest web app · automation · 2022–2025
MoodySun was my own rental cabin, live for two years with real guests. Bookings and payments came through Lodgify; from there to the invoice, every stay ran without me.
What it replaced
Every booking meant a message to the cleaner, a code for the door, the heating set by hand, a welcome in the guest’s language and an invoice at the end, for two rentals at once. The brand site’s own booking widget stayed a prototype: bookings and payments went through Lodgify, and everything after the booking was automated.
The chain
A typical stay at MoodySun
Rebuilt from its rules, times are examples
Booking day
- 11:02Booking synced from LodgifyLodgify
- 11:02Cleaning task and caretaker payout createdStaff app
- 11:03Welcome message in Romanian, language detected by AIWhatsApp
Arrival day
- 14:00Keypad code valid for this stay onlyTTLock
- 14:00Boiler heated for two guestsAriston
- 15:12Guest checks in, the door unlocksTTLock
- 16:40Needs attention: Tuya cloud not answering: gate, lights and floor heating shown as unknown; lock and boiler unaffectedTuya
- 17:05Tuya answering again, every state restoredTuya
- 19:48After local sunset, parking lights onTuya
Checkout day
- 09:30Checkout moved to 12:00, access extendedStaff app
- 13:00Code deleted, heating down to 5 °C, air conditioning off3 systems
- 13:00Invoice issuedSmartBill
Nothing above needed me.
The systems connected
Four clouds, one remote
- TTLockAnsweringDoor lock and keypad codes
- TuyaNeeds attention: Not answeringGates, lights, floor heating
- LG ThinQAnsweringAir conditioning
- AristonAnsweringBoiler
When something fails
Nothing happens twice
Each reservation records what already ran, so a retry never sends a second invoice, and a late checkout gives the guest their access back.
One dead cloud is not a dead remote
The four vendors are asked in parallel; one that fails shows its devices as unknown and leaves the rest working.
Hardware gets time to move
The gate button waits out its twelve seconds of travel, and the heating and the air conditioning never run against each other.
What I stopped doing
Messaging guests
Welcome and check-in messages went out on WhatsApp in the guest’s language, detected by AI.
Handing out keys
A keypad code valid only for the stay, created and deleted on schedule.
Invoicing
A card payment turned into a legal invoice on its own, and a refund issued the reversal.
