Holiday let website: how to build one and take direct bookings

If you own a holiday cottage or a holiday let, most of your bookings probably arrive through a platform. That works, but it costs more each year. A website of your own gives guests a way to book with you directly. This guide covers why it is worth doing now, what the site needs, and how to build one. For the wider picture, see our complete guide to direct booking websites.

Why owners want their own website now

The fee changes in 2026 all point the same way:

• Airbnb has moved hosts to a single host-only service fee. Most hosts pay 15.5% of the booking subtotal. According to Airbnb’s announcement, the deadline for hosts outside the European Economic Area, which includes the UK, was 15 September 2026. Hosts in the EEA and Switzerland follow on 13 October 2026.
• VAT sits on top. VAT is charged on Airbnb’s fee. If you are not VAT registered you cannot reclaim it, so your real cost is higher than 15.5%.
• Vrbo is moving hosts to a flat 12% commission from 29 October 2026.
• Booking.com commission varies by country and property, and is about 15% on average.

On a £700 week, 15.5% is more than £108 before VAT. We go through the numbers in Airbnb host fees in 2026.

Fees are not the only reason. With your own site you set the cancellation terms, you hold the guest’s contact details, and a change in a platform’s ranking cannot empty your calendar.

What a holiday let website needs

1. Photos that sell the stay. The view, the fire, the garden, every bedroom. Bright, level and recent.
2. A live availability calendar. Guests will not enquire if they cannot see which weeks are free.
3. Clear prices. Nightly or weekly rates, cleaning fee, dog fee, minimum stay. All visible before the enquiry.
4. An easy way to enquire. Pick dates, see the total, send a request.
5. The practical details. Beds, parking, Wi-Fi, dogs, stairs, check-in time, changeover day.
6. Your policies. Cancellation terms and house rules in plain words.
7. Proof. Guest reviews, a photo of you, and a map of the area.

Holiday let website design tips

• Design for the phone first. Most guests will find you on one. If the first screen does not show the cottage and a way to check dates, fix that before anything else.
• Lead with one great photo. One wide shot beats a busy collage.
• Say what and where in the headline. “Two-bedroom cottage, ten minutes’ walk from the harbour” does more work than “Welcome to our home”.
• Keep it to one page. Guests scroll. They rarely click through menus.
• Answer the usual questions. Dogs, parking, the nearest shop, the nearest pub. An FAQ saves you emails.
• Use calm colours and one or two fonts. The photos should carry the page.

Choosing a template

A template gives you the layout so you only add your own photos and words. Pick one that suits the character of the property, then leave the structure alone.

If you are weighing up other tools, we compare the main types in best vacation rental website builders.

Your domain: .co.uk or .com?

Either works. A .co.uk tells guests you are a UK business and is often easier to get. A .com is familiar to overseas guests. What matters more is the name: short, easy to spell, and ideally the name of the cottage with the place, like rosecottagewhitby.co.uk.

Buy the domain from any registrar and keep it in your own name. Then point it at your site. Connecting a domain takes one DNS record.

Taking enquiries and payment

Many holiday let owners prefer to confirm each booking themselves. The flow is simple:

1. The guest picks dates and sees the total.
2. They send a booking request, which arrives in your inbox.
3. You reply, confirm, and send your payment details.
4. The guest pays by bank transfer. A deposit now and the balance before arrival is a common pattern.
5. You block the dates on your other calendars.

Bank transfers cost you nothing in commission. Put your terms in writing in the confirmation email so both sides know where they stand.

Keep your calendars in sync

A double booking is the quickest way to ruin a guest’s holiday and your reviews. Connect your Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com calendar to your site with an iCal link so booked dates show as unavailable. An iCal link carries blocked dates only, not prices. Our guide to Airbnb iCal sync shows where to find the link.

One limit to know about: a simple site reads your platform calendars but does not write back to them. When you confirm a direct booking, block those dates on the platforms the same day. If you run several lets, a channel manager does this for you.

After you publish

A site with no visitors takes no bookings. Add the link to your Google Business Profile, your social profiles and your email signature, and tell the guests who already book with you directly. Do not put the link in your Airbnb listing or messages, as that breaks Airbnb’s rules. The full playbook is in how to get direct bookings.