diff --git a/src/lib/services/site-settings.test.ts b/src/lib/services/site-settings.test.ts
index 3d80e7e8..53f2cabd 100644
--- a/src/lib/services/site-settings.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/services/site-settings.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
-const { selectFrom } = vi.hoisted(() => ({ selectFrom: vi.fn() }));
+const { selectFrom, redisMock } = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+	selectFrom: vi.fn(),
+	redisMock: {
+		get: vi.fn(),
+		setex: vi.fn(),
+		del: vi.fn(),
+	},
+}));
+
 vi.mock("@/lib/db", () => ({
 	db: {
 		select: () => ({
@@ -15,10 +23,18 @@ vi.mock("@/lib/db", () => ({
 	WebsiteSetting: { key: "WebsiteSetting.key", value: "WebsiteSetting.value" },
 }));
 
+vi.mock("@/lib/redis", () => ({ redis: redisMock }));
+
 import { siteSettings } from "./site-settings";
 
 beforeEach(async () => {
 	selectFrom.mockReset();
+	redisMock.get.mockReset();
+	redisMock.setex.mockReset();
+	redisMock.del.mockReset();
+	redisMock.get.mockResolvedValue(null);
+	redisMock.setex.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
+	redisMock.del.mockResolvedValue(undefined);
 	await siteSettings.reload();
 });
 
@@ -53,4 +69,33 @@ describe("siteSettings", () => {
 		await siteSettings.get("hotel_name");
 		expect(selectFrom).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
 	});
+
+	it("re-reads the database on a Redis miss instead of serving stale cache", async () => {
+		vi.useFakeTimers();
+		try {
+			selectFrom.mockResolvedValue([{ key: "hotel_name", value: "First" }]);
+			expect(await siteSettings.get("hotel_name")).toBe("First");
+
+			selectFrom.mockResolvedValue([{ key: "hotel_name", value: "Second" }]);
+			vi.setSystemTime(Date.now() + 2 * 60_000); // expire the in-memory cache
+			expect(await siteSettings.get("hotel_name")).toBe("Second");
+		} finally {
+			vi.useRealTimers();
+		}
+	});
+
+	it("does not promote defaults to Redis when the database fails", async () => {
+		selectFrom.mockRejectedValue(new Error("db down"));
+		expect(await siteSettings.get("hotel_name", "fallback")).toBe("fallback");
+		expect(redisMock.setex).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+	});
+
+	it("recovers from a transient database failure on the next load", async () => {
+		selectFrom.mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("db down"));
+		expect(await siteSettings.get("hotel_name", "fallback")).toBe("fallback");
+
+		selectFrom.mockResolvedValueOnce([{ key: "hotel_name", value: "Live" }]);
+		expect(await siteSettings.get("hotel_name")).toBe("Live");
+		expect(redisMock.setex).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+	});
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/services/site-settings.ts b/src/lib/services/site-settings.ts
index a008e288..8ce01d18 100644
--- a/src/lib/services/site-settings.ts
+++ b/src/lib/services/site-settings.ts
@@ -32,15 +32,15 @@ class SiteSettings {
 	// not each hammer Redis/DB (cache-stampede protection).
 	private inFlight: Promise<Map<string, string>> | null = null;
 
-	private async loadFromDb(): Promise<Map<string, string>> {
+	private async loadFromDb(): Promise<Map<string, string> | null> {
 		try {
 			const rows = await db
 				.select({ key: WebsiteSetting.key, value: WebsiteSetting.value })
 				.from(WebsiteSetting);
 			return new Map(rows.map((r) => [r.key, r.value]));
 		} catch {
-			logger.warn("Failed to load site settings from database, using defaults");
-			return new Map(Object.entries(DEFAULTS));
+			logger.warn("Failed to load site settings from database");
+			return null;
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -59,26 +59,43 @@ class SiteSettings {
 			}
 		}
 
-		// Expired but usable fallback — keeps the site up if both Redis and DB fail.
-		if (this.cache !== null) return this.cache.map;
-
+		// Redis miss/unavailable → the database is authoritative. Reloading here
+		// (instead of serving the in-process map) is what picks up changes made
+		// by other instances after the Redis TTL expires.
 		const map = await this.loadFromDb();
-		this.cache = { map, expiresAt: Date.now() + MEMORY_TTL_MS };
+		if (map) {
+			this.cache = { map, expiresAt: Date.now() + MEMORY_TTL_MS };
 
-		if (redis) {
-			try {
-				const obj = Object.fromEntries(map.entries());
-				await redis.setex(
-					REDIS_CACHE_KEY,
-					Math.ceil(CACHE_TTL_MS / 1000),
-					JSON.stringify(obj),
-				);
-			} catch {
-				logger.warn("Failed to write site settings to Redis cache");
+			if (redis) {
+				try {
+					const obj = Object.fromEntries(map.entries());
+					await redis.setex(
+						REDIS_CACHE_KEY,
+						Math.ceil(CACHE_TTL_MS / 1000),
+						JSON.stringify(obj),
+					);
+				} catch {
+					logger.warn("Failed to write site settings to Redis cache");
+				}
 			}
+
+			return map;
 		}
 
-		return map;
+		// DB unavailable → keep serving the last known-good map from memory.
+		if (this.cache !== null) {
+			logger.warn("Site settings: database unreachable, serving stale cache");
+			return this.cache.map;
+		}
+
+		// Nothing cached in this process and the DB is down → last resort. These
+		// defaults are kept in-memory only and never written to Redis, so a
+		// momentary DB failure at startup can't poison the shared cache and
+		// downgrade every instance to the default/preset branding.
+		logger.warn(
+			"Site settings: database unreachable and no cached copy, using defaults",
+		);
+		return new Map(Object.entries(DEFAULTS));
 	}
 
 	private async load(): Promise<Map<string, string>> {