Direct bookings
Direct Booking Website Guide for Glamping Owners
A direct booking website lets guests pick dates and pay you without a listing site in the middle. Here is what it needs and costs.
You’ve only ever taken bookings through Airbnb, CoolStays or Canopy & Stars, and now someone has told you to get a direct booking website. A direct booking website is your own site where guests check dates, choose a stay and pay you, with no listing site in the middle. It doesn’t replace your listings. Most owners keep them for being found, and use their own site to keep more of every booking they can.
What a direct booking website is
A direct booking website is a website that lets guests book and pay for a stay on the site itself. They see your dates, pick a stay, pay a deposit or the full amount, and get a confirmation from you.
That is different from a brochure website, which shows photos and a phone number and leaves the guest to call or email. A brochure site is fine to start with, and a short enquiry form can work well for a small site. But every extra step between “I like this hut” and “I’ve booked it” is a chance for the guest to go back to a listing site and book there.
For a glamping owner, think of it as your own small shop. The listing sites are the busy high street, and your site is the shop with your name over the door.
How a direct booking website works alongside listing sites
A direct booking website and a listing site do different jobs. The listing helps new guests find you, and your own site gives guests somewhere to book with you directly.
| Listing site | Your own website | |
|---|---|---|
| How guests find you | Browsing the platform | Searching your name, your area or Google |
| Who the guest belongs to | The platform | You |
| Commission | Taken from each booking | None from a listing site |
| Card payment fees | Handled inside the platform | Charged by your payment provider |
| Rules, layout and message | The platform’s | Yours |
| Effort to set up | Low | Higher, but done once |
There is another reason to have your own site. Even when someone finds you on a directory or marketplace, they often search for your own site afterwards. They’re hoping for a better deal, or they know the owner keeps more of the money when they book direct. If they find nothing, or a dated page that is hard to use on a phone, they go back and book on the listing.
Listings help guests find you. Your own site gives them somewhere to book once they have.
When you need a direct booking website
You need one when you want more control over who books, when and at what price. You can wait if your site is booked solid through listings and you’re happy with the commission.
Most owners start to want one for the same few reasons.
- Commission adds up across a season, especially on higher-value stays.
- Midweeks and shoulder months stay quiet, and a direct offer can help fill them.
- Returning guests have nowhere to rebook except the platform they first used.
- You want your own minimum stays, rules or packages, such as a hot tub weekend.
What a direct booking website must have
A direct booking website needs a live calendar, online payments, clear prices and a site that works well on a phone. Everything else is a bonus.
Guests often browse on mobile, so if the calendar is fiddly on a small screen, they will leave. Here is what to check.
Calendar sync matters most for owners using several places at once. It keeps your dates matching between your website and platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Canopy & Stars and CoolStays, so you don’t get a double booking. Test it with a dummy booking before you tell anyone the site is live.
Rates are the other thing owners often skip. A seasonal rate card with midweek and weekend prices and minimum stays saves guests from emailing you to ask.
Our work on Millie the Hut put an availability calendar, a short enquiry form and a seasonal rate card on one booking page, and the site brought 42 direct bookings in its first year, saving the owners over £3,000 in commission.
Ways to get a direct booking website
You can use a website builder, a site that comes with booking software, or have a site designed for you. The right one depends on your time, your budget and how many units you have.
| Option | What it is | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Website builder plus booking widget | You build the pages yourself and add a booking tool | Owners with time, one or two units and a simple setup |
| Site from booking software | A site that comes with the booking system you pay for | Owners who want one tool for bookings and a basic site |
| Designed for you | Someone builds the site and sets up booking and payments | Owners who want it done and sitting well on Google |
None of these is wrong. Doing it yourself is perfectly good if you have the time and are happy to learn a tool. The usual trouble is that DIY sites end up slow on phones, thin on text, or not set up to be found on Google, and that is where owners tend to get stuck.
What a direct booking website costs
The cost is the website itself, a booking system if it isn’t included, a domain name, and card payment fees on each booking. Prices vary between tools, so compare the same things each time.
- The website. Builders and agencies usually charge a monthly fee, a one-off fee, or both. Ours start from £19 a month, and you can pay upfront instead.
- The booking system. Some tools charge a monthly fee, some take a small cut of each booking, and some are included with the website.
- A domain name. This is your web address, normally renewed once a year.
- Card payment fees. Your payment provider takes a processing fee on each card payment. It is usually much smaller than listing site commission, but it isn’t zero.
Prices accurate as of October 2026.
Fitting the site to your type of property
The core of a direct booking website is the same for every property, but what you sell differs. Campsites often sell pitches and pitch types, so the site needs to explain facilities in plain terms. Lodges and cabins usually sell short breaks and longer stays, and safari tents and bell tents have a season to manage.
If that sounds like you, our pages on campsite website design, lodge and log cabin websites and safari tent and bell tent websites go into more detail.
Getting guests to book direct
Having the site is half the job. Guests also need to find it, and see a reason to book there.
- Be findable on Google. Guests search for your name, your area and the kind of stay. A site that Google can read and that loads quickly has a better chance of turning up.
- Welcome returning guests. Someone who has stayed with you once is your best chance of a direct booking. Give them your web address when they leave.
- Say why booking direct is good. If you have a direct offer, such as a late checkout or a small welcome extra, put it on the site.
- Keep your listings honest and up to date. The listing is often the first thing guests see, so make sure it matches what your site says.
FAQs
What is a direct booking website?
A direct booking website is your own website where guests check availability, choose their dates and pay you, without going through a listing site. It usually has a live calendar, a booking form or checkout, and online payments. Guests deal with you from start to finish.
Do I need a direct booking website if I’m already on Airbnb?
Not straight away, especially if you are fully booked. But it becomes worth having when you want to keep more of each booking, fill quiet midweeks, welcome back returning guests or set your own rules. Many guests also search for your own site after finding you on a listing.
How do I stop double bookings between my website and my listings?
Sync your availability calendar with your listings, so a booking made in one place blocks those dates elsewhere. Our calendars can sync with Airbnb, Booking.com, Canopy & Stars, CoolStays and others. Check how often each platform updates, and test it with a dummy booking before you go live.
How much does a direct booking website cost?
The costs are the website itself, a booking system if it is not included, a domain name, and card payment fees on each booking. Our websites start from £19 a month, and owners can pay upfront instead. Listing site commission is the cost you are trying to reduce.
Can guests pay online on my own website?
Yes. A booking system embedded on your site can take payments online, usually a deposit or the full amount, through a payment provider. The payment provider charges a processing fee, but there is no listing site commission on top. Many owners also add a short enquiry form for guests with questions.
Find out what’s stopping your site getting bookings
If you’re unsure whether your current site is doing its job, send us your website and we’ll tell you, for free, what’s stopping it getting bookings. Start with your free website audit, or get in touch if you’d rather talk it through.