Getting found, and getting booked direct.
What we learn running direct booking for small operators: what moved the direct share, what the platforms really cost, and what we change next season. Written for the person who owns the calendar.
Latest posts
Channel manager comparison: 31 systems priced for a 12 unit property
Nineteen of these 31 channel managers already sit inside a property system you may be paying for. What each publishes, what twelve units actually costs, and which of them you can price without a sales call.
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.
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.
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.
Bed and breakfast software: fourteen systems, their published prices, and which suits ten rooms
Fourteen systems a ten room B&B would really run, each with the price its own page publishes and who it fits, including the B&B and inn specialists. Then the four jobs the software has to do, the demo script that proves them, and the one job the box usually drops.
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.
What is a hotel channel manager? How to check the one you own
A hotel channel manager keeps one set of rates and open dates in front of every site you sell on. What happens when a booking comes in, what mapping means, what it costs, and how to test the one already inside your property system in an afternoon.
AI visibility for hotels: how to get named when a guest asks AI where to stay
AI visibility for hotels is how often an assistant names your property when a traveler asks where to stay, and whether anybody turns up because of it. Where each assistant gets its property names, what actually changes the answer on your own domain, and what our own pages and tracking recorded.
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.
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