About Hut & Tide | Hut & Tide

Why we built this

Beach huts are brilliant. Booking them is not.

After moving to the Dorset coast, it did not take long to notice how central beach huts are to life here. They line every stretch of promenade from Sandbanks to Southbourne. Families use them as a base for the day. Couples sit in them with a flask of tea watching the sea. Dog walkers change out of wet boots. Swimmers warm up after a cold dip. They are part of the furniture.

But trying to actually hire one was a different story. Some huts are on council booking portals with clunky interfaces and limited availability information. Others appear in Facebook groups where you message a stranger, agree a price and send a bank transfer with no cancellation terms, no deposit process and no recourse if the hut is not what was described. There are a handful of beach hut listing sites out there, but none of them go beyond the booking itself.

You can book a beach hut in a few places. But nowhere helps you plan what to do when you get there.

That is where Hut & Tide is different. We are not just building another listing site. We are building a platform that pairs beach hut bookings with genuinely useful local content: what to do in the area, the best walks that start from your hut, where to eat, which beaches are dog-friendly, rainy-day activities nearby, and facilities along the coast. The hut is the base for the day. We help you make the most of it.

For owners, the platform handles the parts that eat up your time: managing a calendar, taking secure payments, handling deposits and giving renters clear check-in instructions. No chasing bank transfers, no back-and-forth on Facebook Messenger.

20,000

estimated beach huts in the UK

99%

of Bournemouth and Poole huts let, with long waiting lists

of UK day trips in 2024 were to the seaside, up from 6%

Darren Swan

Founder, Hut & Tide

The person behind it

Built by someone who lives it

I am Darren Swan. I moved to the Dorset coast and quickly fell for the whole beach way of life. A morning walk, a cup of tea in the hut, lunch with the doors open watching the waves. It is simple and it works.

When I started looking into hiring huts and understanding how the market operates, I could see that the experience had gaps. Owners were managing enquiries through text messages and Facebook. Renters could find a hut to book, but had no way of knowing what else was nearby: which walks start from the beach, where to eat, what to do if it rains, whether the beach is dog-friendly. The booking was just a transaction. Nobody was helping people get the most out of their day.

I have been building travel technology products for over 20 years across several businesses. Hut & Tide is the one I am most personally invested in because it comes from living here and seeing the problem first-hand. The platform is built to handle the specific details that make beach hut hire different from holiday lets: day-hire slotting, key handovers, deposits, weather-sensitive bookings and the fact that most huts do not have electricity or running water. And alongside the bookings, we are building local area guides that turn a hut hire into a proper day out.

If you have a question, a suggestion or a beach hut you would like to list, I would be glad to hear from you. Email me at [email protected].

What we do

Beach hut bookings and local area guides

Hut & Tide is not a general holiday rental site. We connect people who want to hire a beach hut with people who have one to offer, and we wrap that booking in useful local content so renters know what to do when they get there. The platform handles search, booking, payments, messaging, deposits and cancellations.

For renters

Search by location, date and hut type. See real photos. Book and pay securely. Then browse local guides for walks, attractions, watersports and places to eat near your hut.

For owners

List your hut with no upfront costs. Manage your calendar, set pricing, take bookings and get paid. Less admin, more bookings, secure payments.

Local area guides

Every location has its own guide covering things to do, coastal walks, family attractions, rainy-day ideas and facilities. The hut is your base. We help you plan the rest.

How we work

What we care about

Honest listings

Real photos, structured details, no surprises. Every listing tells you exactly what you are getting: what is inside, how to get there, what is nearby and what is not included.

Trust on both sides

Secure payments for renters. Deposits and damage protection for owners. Verified listings. Clear cancellation terms. Nobody should have to take a stranger at their word.

More than a booking

Every location has a local area guide covering walks, attractions, watersports, places to eat and rainy-day ideas. We help renters plan the whole day, not just reserve a hut.

Fair pricing

No listing fees. No monthly charges. Owners pay 12% commission on completed bookings. Renters see the full price at checkout with no hidden service fees.

A proper booking platform for a proper British tradition