What changes when the booking comes straight to you
The commission is not the only difference. When the booking lands on your side you have the guest’s email and phone, you can offer whatever you like (odd nights, a late check-out, the transfer from the airport) and you are not sitting next to twenty other houses on the same screen.
The commission still adds up. Booking.com usually charges between 15% and 18%, and on Airbnb the host fee runs from about 3% to 16% depending on the scheme, with the guest paying a service fee on top. Over a thirty-night season at 200 dollars, that is 900 to 1,000 dollars per house.
Your site has to answer three questions
When is it free, what does it cost, and how do I book. If one of them is missing, the visitor goes back to the portal, where all three are in plain sight.
- Availability: a calendar you can read without writing an email.
- Price: the rate per season, even if it is a “from”.
- Request: a short form with dates and guests, with WhatsApp next to it.
The direct price has to be worth it
Check your contract before publishing a lower price than the portal’s: many of them restrict it. What you can almost always do is add value — an extra night on long stays, the transfer, cleaning included, a late check-out. The guest is comparing the total, not the headline rate.
Answer fast and take a deposit
A direct booking is won in the first hours. Someone who writes to three houses books with whoever replies first and sounds human. Reply in under an hour, with the price for those dates, what is included and how to confirm.
Ask for a 30% deposit by transfer or a payment link, and send a confirmation email with the address, the check-in time and a phone number. That is what turns an enquiry into a booking.
The guest who already came is the cheapest one
Keep the contacts. Before the season, write to the ones who stayed and offer them their dates first: they already know the house, they do not ask for a discount and they bring friends. After each stay, ask for a review on your own site and on the portal that sent them.
That is how the site we built for Ammos Beach Villa works: the calendar and the price are on the page, and the request goes straight to the owner.