What it costs
What a holiday let website should cost
Guests who love your place will come back, and the agency takes a big cut of every week. Your own site keeps them. Here is what it costs.
From £297, live in 7 days, on your own domain.
Holiday let website cost
The short answer on cost
A holiday let website cost starts from £297 for a spec-built site on your own domain, live within seven days, with the first three months of care included, then £49 a month you can stop whenever. That sits below the agency quotes and above the throwaway builders, both of which mislead you. But for a holiday let the number matters less than two things about how you get booked. The agencies and platforms take a large cut of every week they bring, and guests who love a holiday often come back year after year, so without your own site, even your returning guests book through the platform and cost you that cut every single time. Your own website changes that: it showcases your property, takes bookings direct, and lets a guest who loved their stay rebook with you rather than the agency. So the site’s job is to own your bookings and your repeat guests. Set against the agency’s cut on every week, especially the ones from guests who would happily book direct, a few hundred pounds is trivial.
What the money buys: your own bookings and repeat guests
The value here is owning the booking channel and the guest relationship, not decoration. That price buys a site that showcases your property, the place itself, its setting, what is nearby, so a guest falls for it, and takes bookings direct, so the reservation and the commission are yours. That matters most for your repeat guests, because a holiday let is the kind of place people return to, the same cottage, the same view, every year, and a guest who would happily rebook is worth far more booked direct than through an agency that takes its cut each time. Without your own site, those returning guests still book through the platform, so you pay commission even on the loyalty you earned; with it, they rebook with you directly, and the value grows with every guest who comes back. What you are paying for is a booking channel that is yours, where you keep the commission and own the guests who love your place, which is where a holiday let’s real value lies.
Why cheaper and dearer both mislead
The thousand-pound-plus agency quotes bundle overheads and booking systems a single let does not need. The near-free DIY builders go the other way, producing thin, generic sites that fail to showcase the property or book guests smoothly, sending them back to the agency listing. Both miss the point. A holiday let needs a site that showcases the property beautifully and takes direct bookings, which is a specific thing to get right, so agency prices waste money and bargain builders undercut both the appeal and the direct booking.
Paid off by every guest who books direct
A holiday let website pays for itself out of the agency’s cut kept, so the maths is quick and then compounds. The commission on even a few weeks booked direct covers the build, and every direct booking after that keeps money you would have paid the agency. And because guests return, a single guest shifted onto direct booking keeps saving you commission year after year, so one loyal guest can pay for the site many times over. Set against the large cut the agencies take on every week, and the guests who would happily book direct, the modest cost is an easy decision for a let that would rather own its bookings than rent them from a platform.
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 holiday let site from me includes.
-
Built on spec
I build it first and send it finished. You see the real thing before you decide, not a mock-up.
-
Live in 7 days
From the go-ahead, your site is live within a week. No months of back and forth.
-
On your own domain
It goes live in your name. You own the site and everything on it, with no lock-in.
-
Genuinely fast
Static pages, no WordPress. Fast pages rank better and turn more visitors into calls.
-
Found on Google
Built to be found in local search, with the plumbing done properly from day one.
-
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 much does a holiday let website cost?
From £297 as a one-off, live on your own domain within seven days, then £49 a month for hosting and small edits you can stop any time, with the first three months included. For a holiday let losing a big cut to the agency on every week, that is a small price for a site that builds repeat direct bookings and keeps the commission.
What am I really paying for with a holiday let website?
A way to own your bookings and your repeat guests. Holiday let agencies and platforms take a large cut of every week, and guests who love your place often return year after year, so a site that showcases your property and takes bookings direct lets you keep the commission and turn one-off guests into repeat direct bookers. You are paying for a booking channel that is yours, not the agency's.
Why do repeat direct bookings drive the value?
Because a guest who loved a holiday and would happily rebook is worth far more booked direct than through an agency that takes a cut every time. Without your own site, even your returning guests book through the platform and cost you commission, but a site lets them rebook with you directly, so its value grows with every guest who comes back. Owning the repeat booking is the prize.
Why do some holiday let websites cost thousands?
Agencies bundle overheads and booking systems a single holiday let does not need. A lean site that showcases your property and takes direct bookings does the real job for a fraction of the price, so the big quotes rarely make sense for a let whose property and setting sell it once a guest sees them.
Is a cheap DIY holiday let website good enough?
Usually not. A guest choosing a holiday is drawn by beautiful photos of the property and its setting and reassured by an easy booking, and a thin, generic site conveys neither, sending them back to the agency listing. You need a site that showcases your property and books guests direct, and a cheap DIY job undercuts both the appeal and the direct booking.
Are there ongoing costs beyond the build?
The domain is about ten to fifteen pounds a year and stays yours. The £49 monthly plan covers hosting, backups and two small edits, so you can update photos, availability and local information without a separate bill. A static site has almost nothing to break, so there are no surprise maintenance invoices.
How quickly does a holiday let website pay for itself?
Very fast, because the agency's cut on even a few weeks booked direct covers the build, and every direct booking after that keeps money you would have paid away. And because guests return, a single guest shifted to direct booking keeps saving commission year after year, so the payback compounds.
Do I own the holiday let website or rent it?
You own it outright. The domain is in your name and the site is yours to keep even if you stop the monthly plan. I do not lock people in, because the site that owns your bookings should belong to you, not be rented back every month.
Tell me your town and I'll build you a holiday let site on spec, so you can see it before you pay. Or read What a website costs, see the full pricing, or get in touch.