direct-bookings
Direct booking discount: how deep you can safely go
A direct booking discount stops paying for itself at about 12 to 13% off list once card fees are counted, or at about 30% if you also fund a platform loyalty discount. The three cases worked on one real stay, where the discount has to live so the platforms never read it, and why a US or Canadian property has to check its Booking.com parity clause before publishing one.
The best direct booking website builders for a small lodging operator
Houfy at $7.99 a listing, Guesty at $9 plus 1%, Lodgify from $14, OwnerRez at $40 for the first property, Hostaway's Pro site at $49 plus 0.5%, CraftedStays at $89.99. Ten builders with their published prices, who each one fits, and what the percentage plans really cost once your own site starts selling.
How to increase direct bookings for hotels, and what each step costs
A dollar of booking value moved from a platform to your own website is worth about twelve cents to you. Here is every step that moves it, with what each one costs to put in place and how much it has to return before it breaks even.
What a direct booking website needs, what it costs, and how to test yours
A direct booking website is your own site with a booking engine inside it, so a guest books and pays you with no commission on top. What the four parts cost, where fifteen systems put the guest's card, and a twenty minute test you can run tonight with your own card.
What is occupancy tax, and who collects it at your property
Occupancy tax is what a guest owes the local government for a short stay, and you are the one who collects it and sends it in. Here is who remits it on a direct booking, which platforms collect for you, how to register and file, and what to do if you have not been collecting.
How to get more direct hotel bookings at a small hotel or B&B
More direct hotel bookings come out of four pieces of work: a site that can take dates and a card, a Google Business Profile filled in properly, reasons to come to you that have nothing to do with the rate, and the guests who already stayed. Then the arithmetic that says how deep your direct rate can go, and what sixteen booking systems publish about price.