Why does a B&B or guest house need its own website?
Platforms such as Booking.com or Airbnb do something valuable: they put you in front of travellers who have never heard of you. In return, they take a commission or service fee on each booking, on terms that vary by platform and country (check their current terms), and they control the relationship: messaging, reviews, the guest’s details.
The goal usually isn’t to leave the platforms overnight but to rebalance: let them bring you new guests, and make sure the people who search for you by name, the ones who come back and the ones who were recommended to you book with you directly. That’s your website’s job.
This guide is for bed and breakfasts, guest houses, holiday cottages and vacation rentals, and small independent inns and hotels. For setting up online booking in general, see our guide to commission-free online booking too.
Which pages should a B&B website have?
A traveller who’s hesitating wants to know what the room looks like, what it costs, how to get there and whether they’ll be well looked after. Each page should answer one of those questions.
| Page | What it should include | The usual mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Home | The place in one sentence, a great photo, the area, a visible “Book” button | A long introduction before a single photo |
| Rooms | One section per room: photos, size, beds, how many it sleeps, bathroom, amenities | A mixed gallery where nobody knows which photo is which room |
| Rates and policies | Nightly rates (breakfast included or not), local taxes, minimum stay, cancellation terms | Vague or missing prices that send people back to a platform |
| Availability and booking | Open dates and a booking form or booking tool | Just “call us”, with no idea of availability |
| Dining | If you offer dinner or packed lunches: how it works, price, days, booking ahead | Forgetting to say that dinner must be booked in advance |
| Getting here | Address, map, nearest station or airport, parking, check-in and check-out times | An address with no help for places that are hard to find |
| Things to do | Your own recommendations: walks, markets, restaurants, sights | Generic tourist copy lifted from elsewhere |
| Reviews | Your Google reviews, with a link to your listing | Testimonials with no name or date |
Photos sell the stay
In hospitality, photos decide almost everything. Shoot each room in daylight, tidy, from several angles, and don’t forget the bathroom, the view, breakfast and the shared spaces (garden, lounge, pool). Caption every photo with the room name. Eight sharp, honest photos beat thirty dark or heavily edited ones: a guest who feels misled on arrival will say so in their review.
Write for the guest, not for yourself
Skip the superlatives (“stunning setting”, “truly unique”) and describe what guests actually get: “breakfast is served on the terrace overlooking the vineyard from 8 to 10 am”, “the Linden room has a king-size bed and a walk-in shower”. Concrete details reassure far more than adjectives.
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How do you let guests book directly on your website?
A website with no way to book sends the traveller back to the platform where they first saw you, and you pay the commission. So guests need to be able to book, or at least request a booking, directly with you.
Three ways to do it
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Booking request form (dates, guests, room) | Simple, and you stay in control of every request | Guests wait for your reply, so you need to answer quickly |
| Online booking tool with availability | Guests see open dates and book any time, with automatic confirmation | Availability must be kept up to date if you also list on platforms |
| Phone and email only | Personal contact, which some guests love | You lose people who book late at night or from abroad |
Whichever you choose, keep a phone number and email visible: many B&B guests like to chat before booking, especially for a longer stay or a special request.
Avoid double bookings
If you take bookings on your site and on one or more platforms, the risk is letting the same room twice. Depending on the tools you use, some can sync calendars; if not, get into the habit of blocking the dates everywhere the moment a booking comes in, whatever its source. One master calendar, updated every day, prevents most mix-ups.
Give people a reason to book direct
A traveller who finds you on a platform and then visits your website should see a reason to book with you: direct contact with the host, clear cancellation terms, a welcome touch, local breakfast front and centre, the chance to ask questions first. Before you play with prices, check what your agreement with each platform says (see the next section).
Can you charge less on your own website than on the platforms?
This is the “rate parity” question: some platforms have required properties, by contract, not to sell for less elsewhere, including on their own website.
The rules depend on where you are and on the agreement you signed. Several European countries have restricted or banned these clauses in recent years, particularly for hotels, and competition authorities have looked closely at them; elsewhere, they may still appear in contracts. There is no single answer that applies everywhere.
Price isn’t the only lever, either. A personal reply, easy-to-read cancellation terms, a small welcome gift or a later check-out can make booking direct more attractive without touching your rates. For many guests, a direct line to the host matters as much as a small price difference.
Which rules and policies should your website make clear?
Short-term accommodation is regulated differently from one country, region and even town to the next: registration or licensing, local occupancy or tourist taxes, fire safety, and limits on how many nights or rooms you can let. Check with your local authority or tourism body what applies to your property, and keep your website in line with it.
What guests should be able to find
- Your rates and what they include (breakfast, linen, cleaning), with any taxes or fees shown upfront rather than at the last step;
- Your deposit and cancellation terms;
- Check-in and check-out times, and what to do if arriving late;
- House rules that affect the decision: children, pets, smoking, quiet hours, accessibility;
- Your registration or licence number where your area requires it to be shown on listings and websites;
- Your business details and a privacy notice explaining what you do with the information guests send through your booking form.
Only show ratings, awards or quality grades you currently hold, and make sure they’re up to date.
How should you present deposits and cancellation terms?
Clear terms prevent most disputes and reassure a guest who’s booking far from home. They should be visible before booking and repeated in the confirmation email.
- Deposit: if you take one, say how much, how to pay and by when;
- Cancellation by the guest: until when it’s free, and what you keep after that;
- Early departure or late arrival: what’s still owed;
- Cancellation on your side: what you offer (refund, another date);
- Times for check-in and check-out, and how late arrivals work.
Write these terms in plain language, without legal jargon, and apply them with common sense: a goodwill gesture in a genuinely difficult situation (illness, a cancelled flight) is often worth more than the review you’d otherwise get. For the rules that apply to your type of business, rely on official sources and your local tourism body.
How do you turn platform guests into direct bookings?
Your strongest lever is past guests and people searching for you by name. Here’s how to get them booking with you, while playing by the platforms’ rules.
Look after your Google listing
Many travellers who spot you on a platform then type your name into Google. They land on your Google Business Profile, which should show your website, your phone number, good photos and, ideally, a booking link that leads to you. Our article on adding a booking link to your Google Business Profile explains how, and our Google Business Profile guide covers the rest.
Bring guests back
A happy guest is your best future guest. During the stay, a card in the room with your website address is a natural invitation to book direct next time. For guests who booked directly with you and agreed to hear from you, a thank-you email after the stay and an update once or twice a year (new season, new room, a local event) keep the connection alive.
Respect the platforms’ rules
Platforms generally forbid using their messaging or the contact details they pass on to divert a current booking to your website. Don’t do it: your listing could be suspended. What’s fair game is being easy to find directly for next time, through your name, your Google listing and your website.
Ask for Google reviews
Reviews left on a platform stay on that platform. Ask happy guests for a Google review too, at check-out or in your thank-you email: it makes your listing more visible and reassures people who find you through search. The method is in our guide to getting more Google reviews.
How do you get your B&B website found?
A website nobody finds takes no bookings. For a small property, the most useful sources of visitors are, roughly in order:
- Searches for your name: a complete Google listing with your website address, and the same name everywhere;
- Local searches: “B&B + village or area”, which is why a Google listing in the right category with recent reviews matters, along with a site that genuinely talks about your area;
- Tourist offices and local websites: ask to be listed on your local tourism site with a link to yours;
- Social media: a few seasonal photos on Instagram or Facebook, with your booking link in your profile (see our social media guide);
- AI assistants: more and more travellers ask ChatGPT or Gemini for “a quiet B&B near…”, and these assistants draw on public information (website, Google listing, reviews).
A “Things to do” page written by you, with the places and walks you actually recommend, is both useful to guests and good for search: it’s content nobody else can copy.
Which mistakes should you avoid on an accommodation website?
- No booking button, or one that sends people to a platform: you pay commission on your own visitors;
- Dark, dated or over-edited photos that lead to disappointment on arrival;
- Prices that are hard to find or don’t say what’s included (breakfast, taxes, cleaning);
- Out-of-date availability that causes double bookings;
- No cancellation terms, which breeds disputes;
- A site that’s hard to use on a phone, when many guests book from their mobile;
- A different name on your website, Google listing and platforms, which muddles searches for you;
- Made-up or unsourced reviews: against the rules, and easy to spot.
Once a season, run the test: search for your property on Google from a phone, as a guest would, and go all the way to booking. Every step that sticks is a lost booking.
The steps at a glance
The steps to build an accommodation website that takes direct, commission-free bookings.
- Photograph every room. Sharp daylight photos, room by room, including the bathroom, the view and breakfast.
- Write your rates and policies. Prices, what they include, taxes, deposit, cancellation, check-in and check-out times.
- Set up direct booking. A booking request form or a booking tool with availability, plus a visible phone number and email.
- Keep one master calendar. Block dates everywhere as soon as a booking comes in, whatever its source.
- Link your site to your Google listing. Add your website and a booking link to your Google Business Profile.
- Stay in touch with guests. A card in the room, a thank-you email and a Google review request at check-out.
Do it without spending your evenings on it
Voxtya bookings
Stays with arrival and departure dates and room types, bookable 24/7 from your website and Google listing, with no commission and email confirmations. €29/month, or €49/month with the website, 30-day free trial.
Go further
- Voxtya for hotels and B&Bs
- Commission-free online booking: the guide
- Hotels: more direct bookings via your Google profile
- Add a booking link to your Google Business Profile
- How to get more Google reviews for your hotel
- How to reply to Google reviews for hotels
- Create a website for a small business
- Website templates by trade