“We're answering calls asking guests how their kid's baseball season went — instead of asking for their names.”
Case Study · Grand Rapids, Minnesota — the Northwoods
Sugar Lake Lodge Answers Every Reservation Call with Real-Time Guest Context
Tim Oxborough, Reservation Manager, Sugar Lake Lodge
By name
Repeat guests greeted personally
"We're answering phone calls asking our guests how their kid's baseball season went, instead of asking for their names." Real-time reservation data surfaces on every call.
Live PMS
Reservation data on every call
A deep integration flows reservation data continuously from their property management system, so agents have full guest context the moment the phone rings.
4 years
On SendSquared since 2022
Sugar Lake has run on SendSquared since 2022, and moved its reservation phone lines onto the platform in spring 2025: a seasonal resort where the phones simply have to work.
Quick Facts
- Industry:
- Resort & Vacation Rental
- Market:
- Grand Rapids, Minnesota — the Northwoods
- Portfolio:
- Family-owned Northwoods resort — lakeside lodging, the Sugarbrooke Golf Course, 13 miles of trails, and a full calendar of weddings, reunions, and events
- Property:
- Family-owned Northwoods resort with lakeside lodging, the Sugarbrooke Golf Course, and 13 miles of trails
- On SendSquared since:
- 2022, four years and counting
- Reservation phones:
- Ported to SendSquared in spring 2025
The Transition
Before vs After SendSquared
Before
Reservation calls answered without guest context — starting every call by asking who is on the line.
After
Real-time reservation data on every call, so the team builds on the rapport it has already created with repeat guests.
Before
The phone system disconnected from the reservation data living in the PMS.
After
Phones and PMS deeply integrated, with reservation details surfacing live during each call.
Before
A seasonal Northwoods resort where a phone outage during peak booking season is unacceptable.
After
Four years on the platform, with the reservation phone lines moved onto it in spring 2025 and resort operations visible on the go via the mobile app.
Why It Works
The partnership behind the platform
Sugar Lake Lodge has been on SendSquared since 2022, four years and counting. It is a family-owned Northwoods resort in Grand Rapids, Minnesota: lakeside lodging, the Sugarbrooke Golf Course, 13 miles of trails, and a calendar full of weddings and reunions. For a seasonal operation like this, the reservation phones are the front door, and they have to work. Running them on SendSquared, deeply integrated with the PMS, means every call arrives with the guest's reservation context already on screen. That is how the team can ask a returning guest how their kid's baseball season went instead of asking for their name — the small, human touches that turn a first stay into a tradition.
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