Getting found
How to get more hotel bookings
The booking sites take a cut of every stay. Win more direct bookings by showcasing your hotel and making booking easy. Here is how.
From £297, live in 7 days, on your own domain.
Get more hotel bookings
Where more hotel bookings come from
More hotel bookings, and more valuable ones, come from winning direct bookings off the commission-charging platforms. The booking sites take a substantial cut of every stay they bring, so a booking through them earns you less than the same booking made direct. Getting more valuable bookings, then, means showcasing your hotel so guests want to book with you, making booking direct easy, and being found. The hotel that shows itself well and makes direct booking simple wins the reservation and keeps the commission the platform would have taken. And crucially, many guests who first find you on a platform then look up your own site before deciding, so a compelling site captures those guests directly rather than letting the platform charge you for them. Growth here is about converting lookers into direct bookers, which both fills rooms and keeps the money the agencies take.
That direct-booking, commission-saving character is the key. The platforms will fill rooms but take their cut, so everything is about giving guests a reason and an easy way to book with you directly.
Showcase your hotel and make booking easy
The most powerful lever is giving guests a reason and an easy way to book direct. On the reason, a guest deciding where to stay is drawn by seeing your rooms, facilities and the experience of staying with you, so a site that showcases your hotel at its best, with strong photos and good reviews, makes them want to book with you rather than a plainer option. On the ease, a guest ready to book will go elsewhere if it is awkward, so a simple, clear way to book direct captures the reservation, while a clunky process just sends them to the platform and its commission. Together, a compelling showcase and easy booking convert the guest into a direct booking, which is exactly what keeps the money with you. So showing your hotel well and making direct booking effortless is the heart of getting more valuable bookings.
Be found and win guests off the platforms
Showcasing your hotel only wins bookings if guests reach your site, so being found is the other half. Guests search for hotels in your area, and many who find you on a booking platform then look up your own site before deciding, so a site that ranks for local hotel searches and showcases your hotel captures those guests directly. Every guest you win to a direct booking is a reservation that keeps the commission the platform would have taken, so being findable, and giving guests a compelling reason to book with you rather than through an agency, is how you shift bookings onto your own channel. Getting more hotel bookings comes down to showcasing your rooms, making direct booking easy, being found, and winning guests off the platforms, and a compelling, easy-to-book, findable site does all of it, which is how a hotel fills its rooms while keeping the commission.
How it works
From message to live in four steps.
- 01
Message me
Tell me your trade and your town on WhatsApp. No forms to wade through, no call to book.
- 02
£99 to start
A £99 deposit gets your build going and comes off your quote. It covers some of the build time.
- 03
I build it, you see it
I build the whole site, framed around your work, and send it to you finished to look at.
- 04
Pay the rest, go live
Happy with it? You pay the balance, it goes live on your own domain, and it is yours to keep.
What you get
What a hotel site from me includes.
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Built on spec
I build it first and send it finished. You see the real thing before you decide, not a mock-up.
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Live in 7 days
From the go-ahead, your site is live within a week. No months of back and forth.
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On your own domain
It goes live in your name. You own the site and everything on it, with no lock-in.
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Genuinely fast
Static pages, no WordPress. Fast pages rank better and turn more visitors into calls.
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Found on Google
Built to be found in local search, with the plumbing done properly from day one.
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Looked after
Someone looks after it and changes it when you need. Two small edits a month, your listing kept current.
What it costs
A straight price.
From £297 to build it, first three months of Care included, then £49 a month.
You own the site outright and can stop the monthly plan whenever you like. Hosting is part of Care and Grow, so one of those keeps it online after the first three months, or you host it yourself. See the full pricing.
Common questions
Questions I get asked.
How do hotels get more bookings?
By winning direct bookings off the commission-charging platforms. Booking sites take a cut of every stay, so getting more valuable bookings means showcasing your hotel so guests want to book with you, making booking direct easy, and being found. The hotel that shows itself well and makes direct booking simple wins the reservation and keeps the commission.
What is the single best way to get more direct hotel bookings?
Give guests a reason and an easy way to book direct. Because the platforms take a cut, converting guests to direct bookings keeps that money, so showcasing your hotel beautifully and making direct booking simple is what shifts reservations onto your own channel. Winning the direct booking is the highest-value thing you can do.
How does showcasing my hotel win direct bookings?
Because a guest deciding where to stay is drawn by seeing your rooms, facilities and the experience of staying with you, so a site that shows your hotel at its best makes them want to book with you. Many guests find a hotel on a platform then check its own site, so a compelling site captures the direct booking a bare listing would have sent through an agency.
How does making booking easy help me get more bookings?
Because a guest ready to book will go elsewhere if it is awkward, so a simple, clear way to book direct captures the reservation. If booking on your site is harder than on the platform, the guest just uses the platform, and you pay the commission, so making direct booking as easy as possible is what keeps the reservation, and the money, with you.
Do reviews and photos help a hotel get more bookings?
Strongly, because a guest choosing where to stay is reassured by good reviews and drawn by strong photos, so both help convert them to a direct booking. Great images of your rooms and hotel make a guest want to stay, and genuine reviews reassure them it is a good choice, so together they win the direct booking over a plain listing.
How do guests find a hotel online?
They search for hotels in your area or on booking platforms, and many who find you on a platform then look up your own site before deciding. A site that ranks for local hotel searches and showcases your hotel captures those guests directly, so being findable, and giving guests a reason to book direct, is how you win more bookings that keep the commission.
Do I need to pay for ads to get more hotel bookings?
Not necessarily. Guests search for hotels and check a hotel's own site before booking, so ranking for local searches with a compelling, easy-to-book site can win direct bookings without paid ads, and every direct booking saves commission. Ads can add reach, but your own site does the core work of converting guests to direct bookings. Build it first.
Tell me your town and I'll build you a hotel site on spec, so you can see it before you pay. Or read Get found on Google, see the full pricing, or get in touch.