How FAM-Well runs a 107-acre retreat on one connected system

Meet FAM-Well and Bubbling Wells Oasis

FAM-Well, LLC, run by Jacqueline Grad and Kevin Murphy, manages Bubbling Wells Oasis — a wellness and events retreat unlike anything near it: 107 acres in the California desert, with natural hot-spring soaking pools (no chlorine), sleeping up to 28 guests across three homes. The retreat caters to wellness stays, group retreats, and weddings — bookings where the property itself is the draw and the logistics are anything but simple.

Jacqueline is no newcomer to short-term rentals. She and Kevin ran vacation rentals from 2005 to 2017 as 101 Beach Rentals, so when they took on Bubbling Wells, they knew exactly what they needed from the software underneath it.

The breaking point

The team had been running on Futurestay. Support was fine and personal, but the platform came up short in one specific, decisive way.

• No parent/child listing structure — essential for a retreat with multiple homes and combined booking options
• No Stripe fee refund on cancellations
• Not enough features to run a property this complex

The tipping point was concrete: on re-signing the contract for the property, the team found Futurestay had removed the parent/child feature they depended on. A multi-home retreat can’t run without it. It was time to switch.

Choosing Guesty: built for a multi-home retreat

The parent/child structure was the deciding factor — the single feature Futurestay had dropped was core to how Guesty handles multi-unit properties. But the switch brought more than the one thing Jacqueline came for.

Guesty also delivered a Stripe fee refund on cancellations within the cancellation window, an extra-guest folio with a signed waiver, automations with custom fields, and links to more OTAs. The first six training sessions got her up to speed on a platform with real depth, which led to an improvement in organization, communication, and optimization.

A stronger technology core

Moving to Guesty changed how the retreat runs day to day:

• One inbox for every message, pulling Airbnb and other channels into a single portal
• Automated guest messaging with custom fields, replacing manual back-and-forth
• A guest welcome portal and app that gets the liability waiver signed every time, automatically — a real requirement for a property with hot springs and group events
• Owner and supervisor visibility, so the people maintaining the property get automated clean-up reminders before arrivals and can see the financials they care about

The detailed financials do double duty — Jacqueline uses them to track everything before it goes into QuickBooks for owner payouts.

“Much better communication, better records of the auto-messages, and we get the waiver signed every time now with the guest app. I love the phone app for messages.”

Jacqueline Grad, Managing Member

The impact

Since switching to Guesty, FAM-Well has:

• Brought every property and channel into one connected system
• Automated guest messaging, welcome portals, and waiver signing
• Given owners and maintenance supervisors real-time visibility and automated reminders
• Saved around four hours a week through automation
• Sped up guest response and resolution noticeably, helped by the mobile app

Looking ahead

The plan is expansion on two fronts: three more listings in the coming year, and a move into spa services, including a possible day-spa booking offering. A newly contracted concierge service will fold massage, sound baths, private chefs, and meal delivery directly into Guesty’s automated guest messages once a booking comes in — a direct response to what guests keep asking for.

For a retreat built on wellness and experience, that’s the natural next step: using automation not just to run operations, but to extend what a stay can include.

“It’s a smart, intuitive app. Easy for owners to see their calendars and revenues — worth it.”

Jacqueline Grad, Managing Member

Multi-Unit Management · Unified Inbox · Automation Tools · Guest App · Owners Portal