direct-booking
Direct booking website cost: what small operators pay
Between zero and about $3,500 a year in software, plus 2.9% and 30 cents a payment. The published builder prices, what a build really costs in developer weeks, and how much business has to move direct before any of it pays for itself.
Is a direct booking website worth it for a small hotel?
For most properties at 8 to 25 rooms a direct booking website is worth it, and for four specific kinds of property it is not. Here is how to tell which one you are, the arithmetic that decides it with two worked examples, what the US and Canadian parity rules do to your discount, and the free work worth doing while you wait.
Mews API: how to build a direct booking page
The developer's read on the Mews API, and the owner's. Two references at docs.mews.com, a public demo environment to build against, certification before a production key, an access token per building, and a reservation state that holds the room while the guest pays.
Hostaway vs Lodgify: the prices, and which one fits a small property
Lodgify's four plans are $14, $26, $42 and $62 a month on annual billing, all of them priced for a single property, and Hostaway puts no figure on its site at all. Here is what each really costs at 8 to 25 units, the booking fee only one of them charges, and how to test the sync and support complaints yourself.
Airbnb host fees calculator: how to do the sum yourself
Most Airbnb hosts now pay one service fee of 15.5%, so multiply your nightly rate times the nights, plus cleaning and extra guest fees, by 0.845. Worked here on a $180 night, with the eleven things Airbnb says will move the money that finally lands, the Genius discount you fund on top at Booking.com, and what the same stay leaves you on your own site.
Which vacation rental website builder to buy, and what it costs
A builder is the right buy for almost every property of 8 to 25 units, and four are worth your time: Lodgify from $14 a month, OwnerRez at $40 for the first property, Hostaway's Pro site at $49 plus 0.5%, and Guesty at $9 plus 1% up to three listings. Paying for a build wins in one narrow case, when your pricing turns on a rule no builder will accept.
Small hotel booking software: what fifteen systems cost and how to choose between them
Fifteen systems a small hotel would really shortlist, with every price the vendor publishes, plus what a quote does and does not cover: the property system, the channel manager and the booking engine on your own site. Then four things to make a demo prove before you sign.