diff --git a/src/components/animated-counter.tsx b/src/components/animated-counter.tsx
index e7972585..ce617b76 100644
--- a/src/components/animated-counter.tsx
+++ b/src/components/animated-counter.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 "use client";
 
-import { motion, useInView } from "motion/react";
+import { motion, useInView, useReducedMotion } from "motion/react";
 import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
 
 export function AnimatedCounter({
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ export function AnimatedCounter({
 }) {
 	const ref = useRef<HTMLSpanElement>(null);
 	const isInView = useInView(ref, { once: true, margin: "-50px" });
+	const prefersReducedMotion = useReducedMotion();
 	const started = useRef(false);
 	const [display, setDisplay] = useState(0);
 
@@ -24,6 +25,11 @@ export function AnimatedCounter({
 		}
 		started.current = true;
 
+		if (prefersReducedMotion) {
+			setDisplay(value);
+			return;
+		}
+
 		const duration = 1200;
 		const start = performance.now();
 		let raf = 0;
@@ -41,7 +47,7 @@ export function AnimatedCounter({
 
 		raf = requestAnimationFrame(tick);
 		return () => cancelAnimationFrame(raf);
-	}, [isInView, value]);
+	}, [isInView, value, prefersReducedMotion]);
 
 	return (
 		<motion.span
diff --git a/src/components/live-online-count.tsx b/src/components/live-online-count.tsx
index ca7e2d38..d499efb8 100644
--- a/src/components/live-online-count.tsx
+++ b/src/components/live-online-count.tsx
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 "use client";
 
 import { useTranslations } from "next-intl";
-import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
-import { useEventSource } from "@/lib/use-event-source";
+import { useOnlineCount } from "@/lib/online-count-sse";
 
 /**
- * Live online user counter. Subscribes to the SSE online-count stream so the
- * displayed count updates in real-time (multicast) instead of only reflecting
- * the server-rendered value at page load.
+ * Live online user counter. Shares a single SSE connection (see
+ * `useOnlineCount`) so the whole page uses one socket instead of one per
+ * counter.
  */
 export function LiveOnlineCount({
 	initial,
@@ -17,17 +16,7 @@ export function LiveOnlineCount({
 	hotelName: string;
 }) {
 	const t = useTranslations("header");
-	const [count, setCount] = useState(initial);
-
-	const { data: onlineStream } = useEventSource<{ count: number }>(
-		"/api/online/count/stream",
-		{ enabled: true },
-	);
-	useEffect(() => {
-		if (onlineStream && typeof onlineStream.count === "number") {
-			setCount(onlineStream.count);
-		}
-	}, [onlineStream]);
+	const count = useOnlineCount(initial);
 
 	return <>{t("online", { count, hotel: hotelName })}</>;
 }
diff --git a/src/components/live-online-counter.tsx b/src/components/live-online-counter.tsx
index aecb4fdc..f054a1f1 100644
--- a/src/components/live-online-counter.tsx
+++ b/src/components/live-online-counter.tsx
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 "use client";
 
-import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
 import { AnimatedCounter } from "@/components/animated-counter";
-import { useEventSource } from "@/lib/use-event-source";
+import { useOnlineCount } from "@/lib/online-count-sse";
 
 /**
- * Live animated online-count number. Subscribes to the SSE online-count stream
- * so the stat updates in real-time (multicast) instead of only the initial SSR
- * value, while keeping the entrance counter animation.
+ * Live animated online-count number. Shares a single SSE connection (see
+ * `useOnlineCount`) so the whole page uses one socket instead of one per
+ * counter, while keeping the entrance counter animation.
  */
 export function LiveOnlineCounter({
 	initial,
@@ -16,17 +15,7 @@ export function LiveOnlineCounter({
 	initial: number;
 	suffix?: string;
 }) {
-	const [count, setCount] = useState(initial);
-
-	const { data: onlineStream } = useEventSource<{ count: number }>(
-		"/api/online/count/stream",
-		{ enabled: true },
-	);
-	useEffect(() => {
-		if (onlineStream && typeof onlineStream.count === "number") {
-			setCount(onlineStream.count);
-		}
-	}, [onlineStream]);
+	const count = useOnlineCount(initial);
 
 	return <AnimatedCounter value={count} suffix={suffix} />;
 }
diff --git a/src/lib/online-count-sse.ts b/src/lib/online-count-sse.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ffd2820b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/online-count-sse.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+"use client";
+
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
+
+type Listener = (count: number) => void;
+
+/* Single shared EventSource for /api/online/count/stream. Every subscribing
+ * component re-uses one connection (multicast to all listeners) instead of
+ * opening its own SSE socket per component. */
+const MAX_RETRIES = 8;
+const BASE_DELAY_MS = 1_000;
+const MAX_DELAY_MS = 30_000;
+
+let eventSource: EventSource | null = null;
+const listeners = new Set<Listener>();
+let refCount = 0;
+let reconnectTimer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | undefined;
+let attempts = 0;
+
+function start() {
+	if (eventSource || refCount === 0) return;
+	eventSource = new EventSource("/api/online/count/stream");
+	eventSource.onopen = () => {
+		attempts = 0;
+	};
+	eventSource.onmessage = (event) => {
+		try {
+			const parsed = JSON.parse(event.data) as { count?: number };
+			if (typeof parsed.count === "number") {
+				const count = parsed.count;
+				listeners.forEach((listener) => {
+					listener(count);
+				});
+			}
+		} catch {
+			// ignore malformed messages
+		}
+	};
+	eventSource.onerror = () => {
+		eventSource?.close();
+		eventSource = null;
+		if (refCount === 0 || attempts >= MAX_RETRIES) return;
+		const delay = Math.min(BASE_DELAY_MS * 2 ** attempts, MAX_DELAY_MS);
+		attempts++;
+		reconnectTimer = setTimeout(start, delay);
+	};
+}
+
+function stop() {
+	if (refCount > 0 || !eventSource) return;
+	if (reconnectTimer !== undefined) clearTimeout(reconnectTimer);
+	eventSource.close();
+	eventSource = null;
+	attempts = 0;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Live online-user count shared by the header and the hero/stats counters.
+ * Falls back to the server-rendered `initial` value until the stream reports.
+ */
+export function useOnlineCount(initial: number): number {
+	const [count, setCount] = useState(initial);
+
+	useEffect(() => {
+		const listener: Listener = setCount;
+		refCount++;
+		listeners.add(listener);
+		start();
+		return () => {
+			listeners.delete(listener);
+			refCount--;
+			stop();
+		};
+	}, []);
+
+	return count;
+}