10 ways to get more direct bookings for your B&B

Why direct bookings matter

Every booking that comes through a platform costs you a commission. Our guide to Booking.com and Airbnb commission shows what that adds up to over a year. This guide is about the other side: how to make it easy for guests to book with you instead.

The platforms still have their place. First-time visitors from abroad will often find you there. The aim is to make sure that guests who look you up, come back, or hear about you from a friend can book directly without effort.

First, what the rules now allow

For years, many hosts believed they could not show a lower price on their own website than on Booking.com. In the EU, that has changed.

The European Commission designated Booking as a “gatekeeper” under the Digital Markets Act on 13 May 2024. Its factsheet of 28 September 2026 says that since 14 November 2024, Booking.com must comply with the Act, and must let accommodation providers offer different prices, availability or conditions on other online channels, “including their own websites”. Booking.com removed parity requirements from its terms in the EEA in July 2024.

The same factsheet lists further changes: prices elsewhere are not used in Booking.com’s default ranking or to decide who can join Genius or Preferred, and the extranet’s price checks are now for information only. One thing to know: under its Booking Sponsored Benefit, Booking.com can still lower the price a guest sees and pay the difference itself.

Airbnb is not covered by that designation, and it has its own rules. More on that below.

1. Put a booking button on every page

Guests decide quickly. If your “Book now” button leads to a contact form, many will go back to the platform where they can book in two taps. Link the button to your booking system, and put it in the header so it is on every page, on a phone too. Our guide to booking engines for small B&Bs compares the options.

2. Set up your Google Business Profile properly

Many guests search your name on Google or find you on Maps. Google’s free Business Profile shows your details, photos and amenities on Search and Maps. Check that your website link, phone number and photos are right.

Google also offers free booking links in your profile, which show real-time rates and let guests book on your own site. To get them, your rates and availability have to be sent to Google by a connectivity partner, often your booking engine or channel manager. Ask yours whether they are connected. Google says it does not require a best available rate.

3. Show your prices clearly

A guest who cannot see a price will check the platform instead. Show at least a “from” price per night on your home page and room pages, with the season it applies to.

The CCPC says prices shown to consumers “must include all applicable taxes, such as VAT”, with no hidden charges, and that any extra charges must be made clear before purchase. If you add a cleaning fee or a charge for pets, say so up front.

4. Make your cancellation terms easy to find

State your cancellation terms, deposit and check-in times plainly, next to the booking button. Guests compare these with what the platform offers. If your terms are more generous, say so.

5. Make your site fast on a phone

Google’s web.dev team treats 2.5 seconds as a good time for the main content of a page to appear. Large photos, sliders and old themes are the usual reasons a site is slower. Our free website check shows how your site does on a phone.

6. Speak your guests’ languages

In our review of 21 Irish B&B and holiday-home websites, 20 were in English only. If you welcome guests from mainland Europe, a French or German version of your main pages, checked by someone who speaks the language, helps them book with confidence.

7. Ask guests to book direct next time

The best moment is during the stay. A word at breakfast, a card you hand over at check-out, or a line in the confirmation email you send to direct guests is enough. If a guest booked through a platform, check that platform’s terms first.

With Airbnb guests, don’t. Airbnb’s Off-Platform policy prohibits “asking or encouraging users to move current, future or repeat bookings (including reservation extensions) off Airbnb”, links that take people off the platform in listings or messages, and using guest contact details for marketing. A card left in every room would reach Airbnb guests too. A website that guests can find on their own is the safe route.

8. Email past guests, with their permission

A short email before your busy season can bring back guests who already liked your place. Irish rules on email marketing are strict, so do it properly.

The Data Protection Commission explains that marketing emails generally need the person’s “clear, affirmative consent”, and that pre-ticked boxes or silence do not count. There is a narrower exception for your own customers: you can email them about similar services if you got their address when they bought from you, gave them a clear chance to object at that time, include an opt-out in every message, and send the first email within 12 months of the sale.

In practice: when guests book direct, ask with an unticked box whether they want to hear from you, and keep a record of who said yes. Leave Airbnb guests out: Airbnb’s policy also bans using its guests’ contact details for marketing or signing them up for contact lists.

9. Collect and show recent reviews

Guests trust recent reviews. Ask every guest, not only the happy ones, to leave a Google review: Google suggests sharing a link or a QR code. Then link to your Google reviews from your website.

Airbnb guests are the exception: Airbnb’s policy says you may not ask guests to review an Airbnb stay on another website, so ask them for an Airbnb review instead.

Do not offer anything in return. Google says incentives such as free or discounted goods or services in exchange for reviews are “strictly prohibited”.

10. Offer a small perk for booking direct

Give guests a reason to choose your site: free late check-out, a welcome hamper, free parking, or more flexible cancellation. Since the Digital Markets Act, Booking.com cannot stop you offering better conditions on your own website.

If you advertise a reduced price rather than a perk, keep it honest. The CCPC’s rule on price reductions, written for products, says the “was” price must be the lowest price charged in the 30 days before the offer began, and it is a sensible standard for room rates too. Then say what the perk is on every room page and next to the booking button, so guests see it at the moment they decide.

Where to start

If you only do three things this month: link your booking button to a real booking page, check your Google Business Profile, and add prices to your room pages. The B&B website checklist covers the rest.