StarCoding — Guest Portal
A full-stack guest management platform that replaces spreadsheets with a unified, responsive interface.
What it is
The StarCoding Guest Portal is a platform for short-term rental hosts to manage reservations, streamline check-in flows, and maintain clear communication with guests. It replaces fragmented spreadsheets and email threads with a unified, responsive interface accessible from any device.
The challenge
Short-term rental hosts juggle multiple booking platforms, manual check-in instructions, and endless guest messages. The existing workflow was entirely manual — hosts copied reservation data into spreadsheets and sent check-in PDFs by hand. This didn't scale beyond a handful of properties.
The approach
I built a centralized portal that aggregates reservation data via REST APIs, generates personalized check-in pages per booking, and provides a messaging layer for host–guest communication. Hosts get a dashboard view of all active and upcoming stays; guests get a clean, mobile-first check-in experience.
How it's built
Next.js handles both the host dashboard and guest-facing pages (server-side rendered for SEO and speed). A Node.js API layer manages reservation sync, authentication, and message delivery. PostgreSQL with Prisma stores all data with proper relational integrity across hosts, properties, and bookings.
What made it hard
Multi-platform sync
Reservations arrive from Airbnb, Booking.com, and direct bookings. I designed a normalisation layer that maps platform-specific schemas into a unified internal model, making the UI completely source-agnostic.
Per-booking dynamic pages
Each guest receives a unique check-in URL with personalised instructions, door codes, and house rules. These are generated via dynamic routes with SSR to ensure codes and details are always fresh.
Tools & technologies
Frontend
- Next.js 14
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS
Backend
- Node.js
- REST API
- PostgreSQL
- Prisma
Infrastructure
- Vercel
- PlanetScale
In the wild
Screenshots coming soon