What is a direct booking website?
A direct booking website is a website that any hotelier or accommodation provider, no matter their size, can use to accept direct bookings.
Direct booking websites can be surprisingly simple and cost-effective to set up. A tool like Little Hotelier’s website builder, alongside its direct booking engine, enables small, independent hoteliers an opportunity to create their own stunning direct booking site in literal minutes.
Let’s take a closer look at how Little Hotelier can empower your hotel to keep more of your revenue and create a loyal cohort of returning, long-staying guests with a direct booking website.
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Why your small hotel needs its own direct booking website
Many small, independent hotels, bed & breakfasts, guest houses, motels, resorts, and apartments rely on OTAs to attract guests. While these platforms offer impressive reach, they take a significant cut of your profits—typically 15-25% per booking.
With a direct booking website, you can avoid these fees and keep more of your hard-earned revenue. Why give away up to a quarter of your income when you can attract guests directly?
A direct booking site not only saves money but also gives you greater control over your bookings and guest relationships, regardless of your property type.
Encouraging longer stays through your direct booking website can help you bring in more stable and profitable bookings. Guests who stay longer mean less turnover, saving you time and money on things like cleaning and check-ins. Plus, without third-party restrictions, you can offer special deals or discounts for extended stays, making your property more appealing. It’s a simple way to boost your revenue while giving guests better value and a chance to really enjoy what your property and location have to offer.
Direct bookings are the best bookings. Without the need to pay the middleman, you can choose to either keep the extra cash, or lower your rates to make them more competitive and attract more guests.
Plus, direct booking websites give you the chance to connect with your guests directly. This direct communication lets you personalise their experience from the start, building trust and showing that you genuinely care about their stay. When guests feel valued, they’re more likely to leave positive reviews and come back for future visits.
Over time, these stronger relationships can create loyal guests who prefer booking directly with you, helping your business grow while delivering a better experience for everyone.Essentially, by creating your own direct booking website, and directing guests to it through email, social media, metasearch and more, you gain more control over your hotel business.
Direct booking website vs. OTA bookings
When it comes to managing your bookings, there’s often a trade-off between the convenience of OTAs and the control offered by a direct booking website.
While OTAs like Airbnb and Booking.com help you reach a larger audience, they also charge hefty commission fees and limit your ability to directly interact with guests.
On the other hand, a direct booking website empowers you to keep more of your profits, build stronger guest relationships, and tailor the booking experience to your unique property. Let’s explore some common questions property owners have about these booking options.
Are airbnb.com and booking.com direct booking websites?
There’s often confusion about whether platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com count as direct booking channels.
The short answer is no—they are third-party platforms.
While they can help you gain bookings, these channels charge commission fees and control the booking process, which limits your ability to communicate directly with guests and thus build loyalty.
By using Little Hotelier, you can still benefit from these platforms to attract guests while also encouraging them to book directly next time, saving you money and building stronger guest relationships.
Do single property owners need a direct booking website?
If you’re a single property owner, you might wonder if a direct booking website is worth it. The truth is, it’s one of the smartest investments you can make.
A direct booking website gives you complete control over your bookings, saves you money on OTA fees, and helps you build stronger relationships with your guests. It’s a cost-effective way to boost your revenue while giving you the freedom to personalise your offerings and showcase your property exactly how you want.
Is there a free direct booking website builder?
When looking for a direct booking website builder, costs are an important consideration. While some tools advertise as “free forever,” they often lack the features and functionality needed to truly compete in the industry.
With Little Hotelier, you can get started for free, ensuring you have access to a cutting-edge, sophisticated solution. Our platform offers a professional, easy-to-use website builder without hidden costs. From setup fees to ongoing operational costs, investing in a quality tool like Little Hotelier pays off by providing a higher return on investment and the ability to maximise your bookings.

How to create a direct booking website
The next question is how to build a direct booking website. No matter whether you’re looking to create a hotel booking site, a short-term rental website, or an Airbnb direct booking website, the task is simple if you choose a tool like Little Hotelier. The process of using our website builder is as follows:
- Choose a template: With a wealth of beautiful templates purpose-built for independent hoteliers, you can be confident that your website will be both beautiful and functional.
- Define your aesthetic: Branding is critical. Define your brand colours and organise the logos that will appear on your site.
- Customise your pages: Fill out your homepage and other main pages – ‘Book’, ‘Contact’, ‘About Us’, etc. Give a potential guest all the information they might need before they decide to book.
- Add rooms and amenities: Add info and high-quality, professional photos that put your property in the best possible light. Paint guests a picture of their perfect stay.
- Sell your region: Tell visitors why they should visit your part of the world. Include local tips that will make their stay that much more special.
- Add language options: The Little Hotelier website builder lets you capitalise on overseas guests by allowing them to read and book in their language. Be sure to utilise this feature.
- Integrate third-party widgets: Google Maps, TripAdvisor and other widgets can make life easier for your guests, from locating your property to reading your reviews.
How to integrate a direct booking website with other reservation management tools
In order to get maximum value from your direct booking website, you need to ensure it connects and communicates seamlessly with your other reservation management tools. This allows you to automate much of the admin and busywork you face as a hotelier, meaning far less admin and data entry, while also making you far more effective at setting rates and filling rooms.
Happily integrating your website with tools like your direct booking engine, channel manager and overarching property management system is simple when you choose Little Hotelier, as all these features connect automatically!
If you’ve used Little Hotelier’s site builder to construct a direct booking site, you can be confident that all these tools will seamlessly integrate with that too. And even if you already have a website, connecting up the Little Hotelier suite is usually quite a simple affair.
What to look for when building a direct booking website
The very best direct booking websites offer the following features:
- They allow you to take bookings directly from your customers via your site.
- They help you to capture direct booking traffic from metasearch sites.
- They seamlessly integrate with your preferred channel manager.
- They facilitate secure customer payments.
By Dean Elphick
Dean is the Senior Content Marketing Specialist of Little Hotelier, the all-in-one software solution purpose-built to make the lives of small accommodation providers easier. Dean has made writing and creating content his passion for the entirety of his professional life, which includes more than six years at Little Hotelier. Through content, Dean aims to provide education, inspiration, assistance, and, ultimately, value for small accommodation businesses looking to improve the way they run their operations (and live their life).
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“Little Hotelier is easy to use and simple to teach others to use too. Provides all the information needed to run a business smoothly.”
Claire Moseley,
Owner
Derwent House