1. Start with your regular guests
The easiest direct booking is a guest who has already stayed with you. Keep a list of guests who want to come back, with the week they like. Once a year, when you know next season’s free dates, send them a short email.
Only write to guests who have agreed to it, and always include an unsubscribe link. Do not import platform guests without their own consent: both data protection rules and platform terms forbid it.
Time: an afternoon to build the list, one email a year.
2. Let Google find you by name
Regular guests and people who have heard of you type your property’s name into Google. Open a free Google Business Profile with the same name and address as on your site, good photos and a link to your site. Ask happy guests for a review and reply to reviews.
Time: about an hour to set up, then a few minutes a week for reviews.
3. Your own site that does the work
A site is not just a brochure. For a guest to book, they need:
- free dates visible without hunting;
- an enquiry sent in two taps, from a phone too;
- clear prices and what is included;
- a deposit paid by card or SEPA;
- your guests’ languages.
We build sites like this for every kind of accommodation: villas and holiday homes, holiday apartments, rooms, guesthouses and small hotels.
4. Reply quickly
A guest who sends an enquiry usually sends it to several places. Whoever replies first with a clear offer has the edge. Reply as soon as you can, and at the latest the same day. It helps if enquiry alerts reach your phone; we do this with a Telegram bot that reports every new enquiry.
5. Offer something the platform can’t
On your own channel you may set your own prices and terms: a lower price, a later check-out, flexible dates or a bottle of local wine. The EU’s digital markets rules (DMA) ban price parity clauses for the largest platform. Bear in mind that some national proceedings are still ongoing, and some host associations report that a lower outside price can affect ranking in search results.
Source: European Commission factsheet on price parity and the DMA.
6. Put the link where guests already are
- in your Instagram and Facebook bio;
- in your WhatsApp status and email signature;
- on a printed card in the property, with a QR code;
- in the arrival guide you send guests.
7. Last minute for free weeks
If a week is still free just before the season, offer it at a lower price and feature it on your home page, and send a short note to regular guests who have agreed to hear from you. In our admin that is one button: a last-minute deal.
8. What not to do
- Do not message platform guests outside the platform for marketing. Most platforms’ terms restrict this, and some forbid arranging or taking payment off the platform for bookings that came through it. Check your own terms with the platform.
- Do not use photos you did not take yourself or have no rights to, including ones from the platforms.
- Do not promise what the property cannot deliver: a heated pool, a view, the distance to the beach.
See what commission costs you now in the guide platform commission, and compare a direct booking with a platform booking on the direct bookings page. How guests pay direct is described on the payments and payouts page.
