Websites for B&Bs and holiday homes: more direct bookings
Booking platforms bring you new guests, but they take a commission on every night. Your website is there so that people who have already chosen you can book direct: returning guests, people who come by word of mouth, people who find you on Google.
By Cristian Lazzarini and Ismail Xhakerri · updated 5 October 2026
What the commissions really cost
The platforms do a real job: they put you in front of people who would never otherwise have found you. But they keep a share of every booking. On Booking.com the average commission is around 15%, and depending on the area and the services you choose it can go higher. Airbnb, depending on the fee type, deducts about 3% from the host when the commission is shared with the guest, or 15.5% when the host pays all of it.
| Example | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| 30 nights at €90 through a booking platform, 15% commission | €405 in commission | about €4,900 |
| If one night in five is booked direct | about €80 saved | about €970 |
The realistic goal isn't to leave the platforms, but to move to your website the people who have already chosen you: returning guests, people who come by word of mouth, people who search for you by name on Google after seeing you elsewhere.
Can you offer better prices on your own website?
In Italy, yes. Since 2017, the Italian competition law (law 124/2017) has made null and void any agreement that prevents accommodation providers from offering better prices or terms on their own website than on the booking platforms. A small perk for people who book direct, such as breakfast included or a later check-out, is the easiest way to get guests to choose your website.
What a B&B website needs
- Real photos of every room: bed, bathroom, window, view. People booking want to know exactly what they'll find.
- Indicative prices or a stay estimate, even just “from €85 a night”.
- A simple availability request: dates, number of guests, contact details. If you already use management software with a booking engine, the website connects to it.
- How to get there, parking, check-in and check-out times.
- The house rules written clearly: pets, children, cancellation.
- The surrounding area: what to see, where to eat. It helps people decide, and it helps Google work out where you are.
- An English version, if you work with guests from abroad, and a WhatsApp contact.
Two examples to open on your phone: the Hotel Marea demo and the one for the Agriturismo Cascina Gelso farm stay, with the stay estimate.
The legal requirements you mustn't forget
The CIN. Accommodation providers and short-term rentals must have a CIN, the Codice Identificativo Nazionale (Italy's national identification code), display it outside the property and quote it in every listing, wherever it's published: that includes your own website. Fines for not displaying it prominently run from €500 to €5,000.
Privacy. If your website collects enquiries with a name, email address and phone number, you need a clear privacy notice. If it uses tracking tools, you also need the cookie banner: we explain it in the guide on cookies and privacy.
How to bring bookings to your website
- A card in the room with a QR code to your website: “Next time, book here: a free breakfast is waiting for you.”
- Your Google Business Profile linked to your website, with up-to-date photos and replies to reviews.
- The same name everywhere, so that anyone who sees you on a platform and then searches for you on Google finds you.
- A message to past guests who have given their consent to be contacted again.
The platform introduces you to people the first time. Your website makes sure that, the second time, they book with you.
What goes into the website of an accommodation business is explained on our pages for hotel and B&B websites and farm stay websites.
Further reading
Tell us about your business.
We'll reply within 24 hours with a clear quote, free and with no obligation. If you're not convinced, you're still left with a list of things to fix.