Winner of TripAdvisor’s “Best of the Best” award for six[6] consecutive years, a distinction reserved for the top 1% of hotels worldwide, Watamu Treehouse is one of Kenya’s most extraordinary coastal retreats.

Set along the lush coast of Turtle Bay Road in Watamu, Kenya, one of those rare places travelers seek out for its magic, a blend of nature, art, and deep tranquility that stays with you long after you leave.

Watamu Treehouse is a boutique hotel and yoga retreat that feels less like a hotel and more like a living philosophy. Surrounded by nature and built quite literally around living trees, Watamu Treehouse reflects founder Paul’s core belief that connection with nature starts with respect for it.

For over three decades, Paul, the founder, has nurtured Treehouse into a haven for travelers and wellness seekers who come to recharge and reconnect. What began as a family beach house became a sanctuary after Paul lost his government job and turned the space into a guesthouse. Growth was organic, one room, one idea, one intention at a time, guided by purpose rather than a grand plan.

Today, Treehouse has evolved into a full-fledged wellness center, known for yoga, meditation, and nature retreats. Nearly 60% of its business now comes from niche retreats, and its reputation continues to grow far beyond Kenya’s coast.

When the pandemic forced the world to rethink contact and safety, Paul faced a unique challenge: how could Treehouse maintain its deeply personal guest experience while going completely contactless? That search led him to Formplus, an online form builder for hospitality.

“We discovered Formplus during COVID, when we needed a contactless way to register guests and collect documents without touching passports or pens,” Paul shared. “It solved that problem immediately, and has since become a core part of how we run the business.”

Q. Can you walk us through how Formplus fits into your day-to-day operations, and in what ways it has helped solve the challenges you were facing before?

“Formplus is now central to how we operate. We use it for almost everything related to guest communication, registration, and data collection.

Before guests even arrive, they complete a detailed registration form online. That form captures things like dietary preferences, transport needs, swimming ability, yoga interests, and even health or injury information. It also doubles as an indemnity agreement for activities like water sports and yoga when signatures[a field that lets you collect legally binding signatures upon enablement] are included.

Because they submit all this before they arrive, we no longer have queues at check-in or people filling out papers on arrival.

We also use Formplus to collect data for specific programs, for example, yoga teacher applications, where applicants upload their certificates, insurance, and teaching videos. And we have participant intake forms for retreats. All of this used to happen over messy WhatsApp messages and emails; now everything comes in structured, searchable, and organized.

In short, Formplus has become the system that allows us to maintain a high-touch, personalized approach without sacrificing efficiency.”

From the way Paul speaks about Treehouse, it’s clear his approach to hospitality blends mindfulness and structure. Every guest interaction is intentional, personalized, and every system serves the bigger goal: peace, simplicity, and care.

Formplus fits quietly into that philosophy, supporting their mission & guest experience management without ever feeling like “tech for tech’s sake.”

Q. What about using Formplus has been particularly helpful & made the biggest difference for your work?

“The biggest impact has been the ability to collect structured information before guests arrive. That was impossible before.

Now we can customize their experience in advance, from their meals to their transport, and ensure everything is ready when they get here. It makes operations smoother and gives guests a much better experience.

Another major benefit is that we can design multiple forms for different use cases, guest bookings, indemnities, retreat sign-ups, staff applications, and so on. We currently have about 30 active forms. That level of flexibility is something we never had before.

We also love Notifications. They ensure the right people get the right messages at the right time, which has made coordination across the team much stronger.

One other thing that has been incredibly useful is incident reporting. Whenever there’s an issue on the property, the team member who notices it immediately reports it on a Formplus form from their phone. All the department heads get the notification instantly, so everyone is aware of what happened. The Formplus database keeps a record of every incident, and these become talking points at our daily team meetings, where each issue is discussed. It’s turned incidents into learning points because the information gets collected and shared with the right people every single time.

Also, features like conditional logic and answer piping, not to forget e-signature and file upload forms, have improved the user experience a lot. Guests no longer complain about the process being difficult; it’s intuitive and seamless.

And perhaps most importantly, Formplus lets us screen our guests properly. Since we don’t do instant booking, we can ask the right questions, filter for compatibility, and keep Treehouse exactly the way we want it, peaceful and intentional.”

Listening to Paul describe his system, you can tell Formplus doesn’t just make things faster, it makes them truer to Treehouse’s values. Each response collected shapes how the team prepares: from yoga mats to meals adjusted for dietary needs. Guests arrive to find everything ready, as though the space had been waiting for them.

Q. Are there any specific results, improvements, or changes you’ve noticed since adopting Formplus?

“Absolutely, a lot has changed.

One major improvement is how easy the process has become for our guests themselves. People actually enjoy using the forms, whether they’re registering for their stay or signing up for a yoga class, because they can do everything from their own phones. It feels natural and familiar to them, and with auto-fill completing more than half of the information instantly, the whole process is quick and effortless.

The data itself is also much more organized. Instead of digging through WhatsApp messages or emails, everything is in one place and easy to manage. That’s especially important when we’re processing applications for things like retreats or yoga teachers. We get hundreds of submissions, and Formplus keeps it all structured.

Our guest satisfaction has also improved. Because we know their needs ahead of time, we can prepare everything before they even step through the door. That makes the experience feel thoughtful and seamless, which is exactly what we want.

Operationally, the ability to handle more guests with the same team size is a huge improvement. We’ve grown from just 3 employees to 45, most of them promoted internally, and Formplus is one of the tools that’s made scaling that possible.”

At Treehouse, what used to be hours of manual coordination has become an effortless contactless check-in system. The team’s growth from a handful of staff to over forty-five reflects not just expansion, but transformation, powered by tools that make their kind of hospitality sustainable.

Q. Looking ahead, how do you see Formplus supporting your future plans or helping you scale your services?

“Looking forward, there are a few ways I’d love to see Formplus grow with us.

I’d like to see Formplus evolve into something that can help with data manipulation and reporting, so we can extract more insights directly without needing developers.

At the end of the day, Formplus already covers about 80% of what we need at a fraction of the cost of a custom system. If it continues to grow in ways that make data handling and automation easier, it will remain central to how we operate and scale Watamu Treehouse in the future.”

Closing Reflection

Treehouse’s story is one of balance, between nature and structure, mindfulness and innovation. For Paul and his team, every guest is part of a carefully curated experience that begins long before arrival.

Formplus sits quietly behind the scenes, making that level of care possible from digital indemnity agreements signed via e-signature, to file uploads for yoga certifications and travel documents, to conditional logic that customizes forms for each retreat type.

Every piece of data collected helps Treehouse craft a smoother, more personal journey. Guests no longer queue to fill out forms. Organizers don’t sift through hundreds of WhatsApp messages. Instead, everything flows; organized, intuitive, and deeply human.

And as Treehouse continues to grow, Formplus grows with it. With features like ESign, logic, Form2Doc, Calculations, auto-responders & the likes, Paul’s team can handle more guests, more retreats, and more memories, without losing the soul of what makes Treehouse special.

“At the end of the day,” Paul says, “Formplus already covers about 80% of what we need, at a fraction of the cost of a custom system.”

For Treehouse, it’s more than software for paperless hotel operations; it’s the system that helps a soulful retreat stay effortlessly organized, even as it grows.

The right tools can make your connections effortless, as well. With Formplus, you can:

• Build custom digital forms that reflect your brand,
• Collect signatures, files, and guest preferences in one place,
• Use smart logic to personalize workflows, and
• Transform every submission into a structured, actionable process.

Just like Treehouse, you can stay personal while staying paperless. Discover how Formplus can simplify your operations and elevate your guest experience. Get started today →