Holiday Let Website Checklist for UK Owners

Your guests are choosing between you and a dozen other places, and most of them are doing it on a phone. A good holiday let website answers their questions fast and makes booking easy. This holiday let website checklist goes page by page, so you can see what yours is missing.

At a minimum, a holiday let website needs a clear homepage, a page for each unit and a live calendar with prices. It also needs a simple way to book, some local detail, reviews and easy contact details. Open your own site on your phone and tick things off as you read.

The holiday let website checklist at a glance

A holiday let website should include six things, a homepage, unit pages, availability and prices, a local area page, reviews with FAQs, and contact details. Each page has one job.

This is about your website. Safety certificates, insurance and licensing are separate, and the rules differ across the UK, so check with your council or a professional.

Homepage checklist

A homepage should tell a new visitor what you offer, where it is and how to book, before they scroll. Most guests decide in a few seconds whether to stay.

• A strong main photo of the place, not a logo or a slideshow of twelve images.
• One line saying what it is and where, such as “a shepherd’s hut with a hot tub in the Welsh Marches”.
• A visible “Check dates” or “Book” button that works on a phone.
• Two or three of your best reasons to stay, with a link to each unit.
• A recent review near the top.

Unit pages checklist

Each unit needs its own page with the practical detail a guest would otherwise have to message you for. The more specific you are, the fewer unsuitable enquiries you get.

For any holiday let, include the following.

• How many it sleeps and the bed sizes
• Bathroom, kitchen and heating
• Whether dogs and children are welcome
• Parking and how to find you
• A starting price and a button to check dates
• Photos of every room, the outside and the view

Glamping guests worry about different things. Say how far it is from the car park, what the toilet and shower arrangement is, how it’s heated and whether there’s phone signal or wifi. If you have a hot tub, say whether it’s included or an extra.

Availability, prices and booking

Put the availability calendar, your rates and the way to book on one page, so a guest never has to hunt. If they have to message you to learn whether a weekend is free, some of them won’t.

A good booking page has these.

• A calendar showing free dates
• Midweek and weekend rates, with any minimum stays
• Either online booking with payment, or a short enquiry form
• Clear cancellation terms in plain English

Millie the Hut’s booking page works this way, with an availability calendar, a short enquiry form and a seasonal rate card on one page. The site brought 42 direct bookings in its first year, saving the owners over £3,000 in commission.

Area and reviews pages, and your question page

These three pages answer the questions that stop a guest booking. Keep each one short and specific.

Area page. Give real distances and names. The nearest pub, the shop for supplies, a good walk from the door and something to do on a wet day. A few honest lines beat a long list copied from a tourist board site.

Reviews. Use real reviews with a first name and a month, and spread them across the site rather than hiding them on one page. Ask recent guests directly if you can quote a line or two.

FAQs. Start with the questions you answer most. Check-in and check-out times, dogs, parking, what to bring, what the bed linen situation is and what happens if the weather turns.

Trust signals and technical basics

Guests trust a site that looks looked after, shows real people and loads quickly. Most of this is small and free to fix.

For trust, check you have the following.

• Your own photos, not stock images
• Your name, and ideally a photo of you or the hosts
• A phone number or email that’s easy to find
• The county or area you’re in
• Clear terms on cancellation and deposits
• Only awards and press mentions you can really show

For the technical side, check the following.

• The site works comfortably on a phone, with buttons big enough to tap
• Pages load fast, and photos are compressed rather than straight from the camera
• The padlock shows in the browser, meaning the site is secure
• Each page has its own title and a short description for Google
• You have a Google Business Profile that matches your site

If you find more than a handful of gaps, a holiday let website design built around bookings is often quicker than patching an old site. For one or two gaps, fixing them yourself is perfectly fine.

Score your own site

Count how many of these you can tick honestly. Eight or more means you’re in good shape. Fewer than five means guests are probably leaving without booking.

FAQs

How many pages does a holiday let website need?

Most holiday lets are well served by five to eight pages. A homepage, one page per unit, availability and booking, the local area, FAQs and contact cover the essentials. Add a reviews page or gallery as you grow. More pages only help if each one answers a question guests really ask.

Do I need my own website if I’m on Airbnb or Canopy & Stars?

A listing gets you seen, but guests often search for your name afterwards, hoping for a better deal or because they know you keep more of the money. Your own site catches those guests and lets you take direct bookings without commission. Plenty of owners keep both.

What photos does a holiday let website need?

Show every room, the outside, the view and the practical bits guests worry about, like the bathroom, kitchen and parking. For glamping, add the walk from the car and the toilet and shower set up. Use your own photos, compressed so pages load quickly on a phone.

Should a holiday let website take online payments?

It helps. Guests who can check dates, see the price and pay a deposit in one visit are less likely to wander back to a listing site. An enquiry form is a fine start if you want to approve each stay first. Booking systems with online payments can be embedded in your site.

If you’re unsure how your site scores, send us your website and we’ll tell you, for free, what’s stopping it getting bookings.