Like countless others who've tried to get a booking Rottnest Island for the summer holidays in recent years, Brooke Wilson has had her share of frustrations.
"The most stressful 15 minutes of our life, for the year" is her bleak assessment of the current booking system, which she approaches with all the tactical manoeuvring of a general planning a major strategic advance.
Ms Wilson's "well-oiled" system involves making sure her calendar is free on the morning the accommodation bookings go online — and that she's got an army of people also trying secure her a booking.
"So we make that on the morning of we've got no meetings … everything's clear so we're available to sit in front of the computer from 8:30," she said.
"There's nine of us that log on, we have about four devices each so laptops, iPads, phones, and we just wait for our lucky number to come up."
Even then, there's absolutely no guarantee Ms Wilson or her booking legions are able to get any sort of accommodation, which is released nine months in advance on an "open day" advertised on the Rottnest website.
But all that could be about to change, with an overhaul of the accommodation booking system soon to be introduced.
Streamlining Rottnest bookings
Rottnest Island Authority director of visitor services Deborah Taylor said the new system would improve the process.
"We wanted to change the system to make it more user-friendly and make it more available to those were potentially unfamiliar with the way to book Rottnest Island accommodation in the past," she said.
The current website warns visitors securing accommodation is not easy.
"Please understand that demand for bookings will be high and not everyone will be able to secure a reservation," it says.
It also recommends forward planning, cautioning that anyone who is not logged into the "virtual queue" for accommodation before 8:30 am on the day it's released will go to the back of the line, while those who've joined before that time will be allocated a random position in the queue.
For school holidays, you must book a block of dates predetermined by the RIA, which are different for each accommodation area on the island, and the website requires that you put in the exact date period and area you are trying to book.
There is no way of booking a specific cottage or bungalow, and no way of seeing what's available across the island on what dates.
Only 10 per cent get peak bookings
Ms Taylor said 80 per cent of customers booked online and the website had an especially heavy load when peak holiday period accommodation dates were released.
"We understand that demands outstrips supply in those peak months of September to April, in particular over the summer school holidays when everyone wants to stay," she said.
"We had 15,000 people queued online for that open day in January, and only 1,500 bookings available, so you can see that there's a real demand."
However, she said other months of the year were also becoming increasingly popular, largely because the RIA accommodation was "so affordable".
Ms Taylor said the new system was modelled on online hotel booking services such as booking.com, and would allow people to see when accommodation was available.
"Being able to look up room types, availability, know exactly what's in that accommodation, so you're far more aware of what's going to suit you," she said.
However, she cautioned the changes were just "enhancements" and other aspects of the booking system would remain, including a randomised online queue, accommodation open days on the first Wednesday of the month, and bookings not being held until a deposit has been paid.
'A real disappointment'
But some Rottnest holidaymakers are concerned the planned booking system changes don't go far enough.
Single mum Sharon said this coming summer would be the third year in a row she had been unable to book accommodation on the island through the online booking system.
"Using even multiple browsers on all those devices, [I] haven't been able to get even close to the front for three summers in a row.
"[It] has been a real, real disappointment."
She said as a single parent, Rottnest provided an ideal holiday for her two children.
"It was a really safe location for the kids to have a really fantastic holiday where they could have a little bit of freedom," she said.
"We've just not been able to find anything [else] that's of a similar kind of, I guess, value to us as a family.
"When I say value, I don't mean dollars, I mean the memory values that are more important."
Rottnest Island Authority recently opened a survey for feedback on the booking system and Ms Harvey said her submission included recommending being able to book even further in advance for peak periods.
Lisa, another keen Rottnest enthusiast, said finding accommodation was the hardest thing about taking a family holiday to the island.
She said the online booking system needed improvements including being able to hold items in the check-out basket for longer.
"I've had accommodation in my basket … and then go to pay for it and the accommodation is gone," she said.
"The last time it happened five times – I had accommodation and then ended up with nothing."
Facebook page helps some
Meanwhile, fed up with the booking system, a Perth-based couple decided to set up a Rottnest accommodation page on Facebook, enabling those who've won a coveted booking to either swap it for accommodation on other dates, or resell bookings no longer required.
The Rottnest Islands Accommodation Swaps page was begun by Kate and Luke Gibson several years ago to connect people who wanted to change their accommodation.
"We all love going to Rotto but the booking system has its challenges," the pair note on their page.
The site has attracted plenty of comments from irate would-be holidaymakers, frustrated at not being able to get a booking, some advocating a return to the old ballot system, which enabled visitors to choose an accommodation category and be allocated a unit at random if successful.
"Totally crazy", "damn disheartening" and "impossible" are some of the ways the booking system has been described by users.
" ... if RIA sorted out their bookings and systems there would be no need for this page and others," one Facebook user wrote.
Ms Taylor said the RIA "did not condone" the Facebook group, which she said allowed some people to book accommodation specifically for the purpose of on-selling it.
"The fairest thing is actually to cancel it, return the accommodation to us and then it's available to everyone for bookings," she said.
She said the ballot system, which was abolished about eight years ago, was administratively burdensome and was scrapped because the RIA wanted to offer a "first in, best dressed" system instead.
"We believe the online queue system that we now have is more like a randomised ballot ... to give everyone the same kind of chance," she said.
Earlier this year comments got so heated on the Facebook page, Ms Gibson was forced to introduce a new rule in an effort to stop people slamming the RIA and its booking system, warning that her page was not a forum for criticism.
For her part, Ms Wilson hopes making more available dates visible on the website will help make the busy booking time easier.
"Certainly, seeing a month out, what's available in that month would definitely help us book our week with four other families," she said.
The new system is due to be in place before the end of the year, although it will not solve the fundamental issue of accommodation demand on the picturesque island outstripping supply.
But Ms Taylor hinted at possible solutions to that problem too, revealing the RIA was considering building additional accommodation to cope with demand.
"We currently have our Rottnest Island management plan going out for public consultation, that's looking at potential areas for increased accommodation and future development," she said.
The plan is due to be released early next year.
