Opal Ridge Motel
Opal Ridge Motel is a contemporary country-style motel in Collinsville, Queensland, featuring 28 premium rooms, a restaurant, bistro, pool, and function facilities. Owner Maddie Camu switched from a complicated roster platform to RosterElf for its simplicity, cost savings, and seamless Xero integration.
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Simpler rostering than their previous platform
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Cost savings switching from a more expensive system
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Seamless Xero integration for payroll processing
"Cost savings and time save as it is simple to understand. Keeps integration with Xero which is really good for processing payroll."
How Opal Ridge Motel simplified rostering and reduced costs with RosterElf
About Opal Ridge Motel
Opal Ridge Motel is a premium accommodation and dining destination in Collinsville, in Queensland's Western Whitsunday region. The motel offers 28 rooms, the Black Opal Restaurant, a bistro and café, fitness centre, pool, and event facilities — making it the region's top independently rated accommodation.
Managing a hospitality team across accommodation, food and beverage, and events requires a rostering system that is both powerful and easy to use. The previous platform Opal Ridge Motel was using was too complicated — hard for staff to understand and more expensive than the business needed.
Owner Maddie Camu switched to RosterElf's rostering software because it looked simpler and more affordable — and the Xero payroll integration meant there would be no disruption to their existing accounting workflow. For hotel and motel businesses like Opal Ridge, that combination of simplicity and integration is exactly what's needed.
Challenges before RosterElf
Opal Ridge Motel was using a rostering platform that was overly complicated, more expensive than necessary, and difficult for staff to navigate day to day.
Overly complicated roster platform that was hard to use and understand for both management and staff
Higher subscription cost than necessary for a motel of this size and complexity
Time spent navigating a complex system that should have been spent running the business
Difficulty onboarding staff to a complicated rostering tool — a recurring problem in a high-turnover hospitality environment
Managing accommodation, dining, and events staff across multiple departments in one rostering system
Payroll process not well integrated with Xero accounting — creating extra manual steps every pay period
How RosterElf helped Opal Ridge Motel
- Simple, intuitive rostering that anyone on the team can learn quickly — no complicated interface to navigate
- Seamless Xero integration for accurate, hassle-free payroll processing every pay period
- Digital time clock for accurate shift records across all departments
- Cost-effective pricing — significant savings compared to the previous, more expensive platform
- Purpose-built for hotels, motels, and accommodation businesses — with features that fit how hospitality teams actually work
- Simple onboarding — easy for all staff to adopt without training overhead, reducing friction in a high-turnover industry
What Opal Ridge Motel says about RosterElf
1. The first impression: simple and promising
"Seems promising and looks simple to use and understand and a bit cheaper to other roster platforms."
This was Maddie's first impression of RosterElf — and it stood in sharp contrast to the complicated platform Opal Ridge Motel had been using. When a rostering tool requires significant effort just to learn the interface, it creates friction across the whole team.
The appeal of something that "looks simple to use and understand" was immediate. For a motel owner managing rooms, a restaurant, a bistro, and events, the last thing needed is a workforce management tool that adds complexity rather than removes it.
2. The double benefit: cost and time
"Cost savings and time save as it is simple to understand."
Switching to RosterElf delivered two immediate wins for Opal Ridge Motel: a lower subscription cost and time saved each week. These two benefits are closely linked — a simpler system means less time training staff, less time troubleshooting, and less time building rosters that should take minutes, not hours.
For a regional Queensland motel where the owner wears many hats, those time savings matter. Every hour not spent wrestling with a complicated rostering platform is an hour that can go back into the business.
3. The Xero integration: payroll made easy
"Keeps integration with Xero which is really good for processing payroll."
The Xero integration was a non-negotiable for Opal Ridge Motel — and RosterElf delivers it seamlessly. Timesheet data flows directly into Xero, removing the need to manually re-enter hours and reducing the risk of payroll errors.
For a hospitality business processing payroll across multiple roles and departments, this kind of automation is genuinely valuable. It turns what used to be a time-consuming manual task into a smooth, reliable process that runs in the background.
4. What the staff think: simple to use
"Simple to use."
Staff adoption is where many rostering tools fall down — and it's often where the real cost of a complicated system shows up. If staff can't easily check their roster, confirm shifts, or use the time clock, the burden falls back on management.
At Opal Ridge Motel, the feedback from staff has been clear: RosterElf is simple to use. In a hospitality environment where staff may range from experienced team members to casual workers picking up their first shifts, that simplicity drives genuine adoption — and makes the whole system work as it should.
Why Opal Ridge Motel recommends RosterElf
Simpler than the previous platform
RosterElf is straightforward to use — for the owner and for every member of staff — making it a genuine upgrade from a more complicated rostering system.
Cost savings
More affordable than the previous platform without sacrificing the features a motel actually needs — a clear win for the business bottom line.
Xero integration
Payroll flows smoothly through the Xero integration — no manual steps, no re-entering hours, just accurate payroll processing every time.
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Motel & accommodation rostering FAQ
- RosterElf's rostering software makes it easy for motels to schedule staff across accommodation, food and beverage, and events. Managers can build rosters in minutes, staff view their shifts on their phones, and changes can be communicated instantly — all without a complicated system.
- Yes, RosterElf integrates directly with Xero via its Xero payroll integration. Timesheets flow automatically into payroll, eliminating manual data entry and reducing errors. Opal Ridge Motel uses this integration and found it essential for smooth payroll processing.
- RosterElf is designed to be simple and intuitive for both managers and staff. Opal Ridge Motel highlighted ease of use as a key benefit — both the owner and team members can navigate the platform without needing formal training or technical expertise.
- Yes. RosterElf supports multi-department rostering, making it ideal for hotel and motel businesses that operate across different areas like rooms, restaurants, and function facilities. You can roster different teams in the same platform and manage all shifts in one view.
- Savings vary depending on the previous platform, but Opal Ridge Motel reported meaningful cost savings after switching from a more expensive rostering system. RosterElf is priced competitively for small to medium accommodation businesses, and the time savings from a simpler system add up quickly each week.