If you own a country house or a tourist apartment, this scene probably sounds familiar: a booking comes in, you are happy, and a few days later you see how much the platform kept. Between 15 and 20%, depending on the portal and how your account is set up. One booking after another, all year round.
Your own website with direct bookings is not going to replace Airbnb or Booking, and it does not have to. But if it gets some of your guests to book with you, the difference at the end of the year is noticeable. I will walk you through how to set it up step by step, what it really needs and where things usually go wrong.
First, a quick calculation: is it worth it?
An example with round numbers. Imagine you rent out 120 nights a year at €150 a night and the platform keeps 15%. That is €2,700 a year in commissions. If only 30% of those bookings moved to your website, you would save around €810 a year. It is not a fortune, but it is money you do not see today. And you also get your own shop window open 365 days a year.
If you want to try it with your own numbers, on my web design for vacation rentals page there is a calculator.
What a vacation rental website needs
You do not need a huge website. You need whoever arrives to quickly understand three things: what the accommodation is, how much it costs and how to book. With that clear, the rest is polish. This is what I would include without fail:
- Good photos and a description that tells what it is like to be there, not just how many bedrooms it has.
- An availability calendar that is visible and looks good on mobile. Most people will visit you from their phone.
- Clear prices, with what is included and what is not (cleaning, deposit, tourist tax).
- Direct booking with a deposit payment, so the booking is firm.
- Cancellation terms written in plain words.
- A WhatsApp button or a phone number, because many people still want to ask before booking.
- A map and directions.
- Reviews from real guests.
- Your accommodation registration number on display. In Spain it is mandatory to show it in listings; if in doubt, confirm with your advisor or your regional government.
Three ways to build it (and when each one fits)
1. A simple builder, with a template
It is the cheapest and quickest. It works if you have a single property and few direct bookings. The limit: they tend to be rigid with the calendar and payment, and the day you need something specific (another language, another payment method) you end up fighting the tool.
2. An external booking engine connected to your website
There are services that give you the calendar and payment ready-made, and you embed them in your website. It works well, although you pay a monthly fee or a commission (lower than the portals) and you depend on that service staying as good in a few years.
3. Your own WordPress website with its own booking system
This is the route I take. You have full control over the design, the SEO and your guests data, and you can grow without redoing everything. For that I developed SaRotaBook, a direct booking system that I connect to the website. I will be upfront: it is the one I know best, so I speak about it with bias. If your case is simple, another option may suit you better, and I will tell you.
How to sync the calendar with Airbnb and Booking
The number one fear of anyone opening direct bookings: someone books on your website the same night another person books on Airbnb. To avoid it, your website calendar is connected to the platforms (usually with a calendar link such as iCal). What is booked in one place gets blocked in the others.
An important detail: these syncs are not always instant, they may take a while to show up. It is worth knowing how often they update, especially if your accommodation is booked a lot.
Taking the deposit without complications
Asking for a deposit when booking, a part of the total, makes the booking firm and spares you scares. The usual approach is to connect it to a payment gateway such as Stripe, which charges at the moment and sends the money to your account. What is up to you is deciding what percentage to ask for, when the rest is charged and putting it in writing in the terms.
Be found: SEO basics
A beautiful website that nobody finds is not worth much. The minimum to get started:
- Use in the title and header what people really search for: the type of accommodation and the area. “Country house in Alcúdia with direct bookings” works better than “Welcome to our house”.
- Have your Google Business Profile listing complete and with reviews. Here is a local SEO guide for vacation homes.
- Make it load fast on mobile. If you want to know how to measure it, see how to measure a website’s loading speed.
- If you host guests from abroad, offer the website in at least two languages.
- Show your Google reviews on the website itself. I explain how to show Google reviews on WordPress.
Mistakes I see again and again
- Hiding the book button. If people have to look for it, you lose the booking.
- Very heavy photos that make the website slow.
- Taking a long time to reply to whoever writes on WhatsApp.
- Showing a calendar that is not up to date.
- Copying the Airbnb description word for word: Google sees it as duplicated and it does not help you.
- Forgetting about maintenance. A website that is not updated ends up causing problems; that is what a WordPress maintenance plan is for.
How much does it cost and how long does it take?
It depends on what you need: a simple page with a calendar is not the same as a complete website with online payment and several languages. My web design for vacation rentals packages start at €890 (plus domain and hosting) and are explained with what each one includes. If you are unsure between them, write to me and we will go through it.
If you would like us to look at it together
Tell me what your accommodation is like, how many languages you need and what worries you. You can write to me from the contact page or on WhatsApp, and I will reply within 48 working hours with a tailored proposal.
