Let your best guests book you, not a platform.
Room, cabin & lodge direct booking
Take bookings on your own website with live availability, a room selector, deposits and direct payment, and keep the commission the booking platforms charge.
Price
$995 setup + $55/mo
Fixed and written into your proposal before any work starts. No hourly surprises, no long-term contract.
Add this to a full estimate
How it works
Guests book and pay on your own site, so you keep the platform commission and the guest's name and email.
Read the video as text
- Book through a platform and it takes a cut of every stay, often fifteen percent or more.
- Even when it's a repeat guest who already knows you.
- Guests see live availability on your website, pick a room or cabin and pay a deposit or the full amount by card.
- Payments go to your own account, and you both get a confirmation email.
- On a $1,000 stay at a 15% platform fee, you get $850. Booked direct, you pay only card processing.
- Example numbers. The calculator on this page works it out with yours.
- A direct guest's name and email are yours, so inviting a repeat stay or a referral costs nothing.
- And the rules are yours too: the deposit, the cancellation terms, the minimum stay.
What it is
In plain words.
Booking platforms are valuable for being discovered, but they charge on every booking, including the guests who found you through your own reputation, a repeat stay or a friend's recommendation. Platform fees often add up to fifteen percent or more of a booking, and service fees can make your price look higher to the guest than it needs to be.
This add-on gives you a direct channel on your own site. Guests see live availability, pick a room or cabin, pay a deposit or the full amount by card and get a confirmation. Pair it with calendar sync and a night booked anywhere is blocked everywhere.
A good fit if
- Cabins, lodges, B&Bs, small hotels and vacation rentals, whether you have one unit or a dozen.
- Properties with repeat guests and word-of-mouth who currently book through a platform.
- Owners who want a say in their own deposit, cancellation and minimum-stay rules.
Probably not for you if
- You have a single rental you book rarely and you're happy with a platform's tools.
- You want the platform to handle all guest messaging. Direct guests are yours to look after.
We'd rather tell you so than sell you something that doesn't fit.
What you get
Exactly what's included.
Live availability calendar
Guests see which dates are open, and pick the ones they want.
A room or cabin selector
Photos, descriptions, capacity and rates for each unit, so guests choose with confidence.
Deposits or full payment by card
You decide how much is due at booking. Payments go to your own account.
Booking rules you control
Minimum stays, check-in days, cleaning fees and extra-guest fees.
Confirmations
The guest gets an email with their dates, the total and what happens next, and so do you.
Testing with real bookings
We make test bookings with you before it goes live.
How it goes
We set up your units and rates
Each room or cabin, its photos, capacity, nightly rate and rules.
We connect payments
Card payments are connected to an account in your name.
We test, then go live
You and we book, change and cancel test stays, and then the booking button goes live.
Why it's worth it
What it does for you.
You keep the commission
A booking made on your own site doesn't pay a platform fee. You pay only card processing.
Your own price, not a marked-up one
Guests see your rate, without platform service fees layered on top.
You own the guest relationship
Names and emails are yours, so repeat stays and referrals cost nothing to invite.
Your rules
You set the deposit, the cancellation terms and the minimum stay.
- Discovery can be rented from a platform. The relationship is what you want to own.
- A guest list you can email is worth something the platforms don't give you.
Run your own numbers
Example figures. Change them to yours.
Put in what the platforms take from you today. These are example numbers: change them to your own.
Check a recent payout statement: it varies by platform and plan.
Repeat guests and referrals are the easiest to move.
- Platform fees you stop payingon $1,200 of bookings a month
- $180
- Card processing on those bookingsestimated at 3%, a round number typical of card fees
- −$36
- This add-on's monthly fee
- −$55
Net each month
$89
That would repay the $995 setup in about 11 months, and about $1,068 a year after that.
What this assumes
- Card fees vary by processor; 3% is an estimate.
- The bookings you move are ones you would have received anyway. This does not assume any new guests.
The practical bits
What it takes.
What we need from you
- Photos and a description of each room or cabin.
- Your nightly rates and rules: minimum stay, deposit, cancellation terms, cleaning and extra-guest fees.
- A merchant account to take card payments in your name (we help you set one up if you don't have one).
- The calendar links from any platforms you list on, if you want them kept in step.
How long it takes
Usually three to four weeks, including testing with real bookings. The exact dates go in your proposal.
Timelines are typical. The dates for your project go in your proposal.
What the monthly fee covers
The monthly fee covers hosting, keeping the booking system secure and updated, and help from the person who built it when you need to change rates or rules.
Questions
Likely questions, answered.
Do I have to leave the booking platforms?
No. Most owners keep their listings for discovery and add direct booking for everyone who already knows them. Over time, the guests who return move to your own page.
How do I avoid double bookings?
Pair this with calendar sync, which keeps your site's calendar and your platform calendars in step.
How do guests pay?
By card at booking: a deposit or the full amount, as you decide. The money goes to your own merchant account.
What about cancellations and refunds?
You set the policy and the site shows it to the guest before they pay. If a guest cancels, any refund is issued from your own payment account.
What about lodging taxes?
Tax rules depend on where you operate. Tell us what you need to collect and we'll tell you how checkout can show it. We build websites; we're not tax advisors.
How many rooms or units can it handle?
It's built around the units you list, so it works for one cabin or a whole lodge. Tell us your number when you enquire.
What does Room, cabin & lodge direct booking cost?
$995 setup + $55/mo. The price is fixed and written into your proposal before any work starts, so there are no hourly surprises. If you ask for something that isn't in the proposal, we quote that change first and nothing changes until you agree.
Do I own it?
You own what we build for you: the code, the content, and the accounts it runs on (the domain, the hosting account and any service account, such as a payment account, are opened in your name). There is no proprietary platform to be locked into and no cancellation penalty.
Can you add it to the website I already have?
Add-ons are built into a ZONA site. If you already have a site, tell us what it's built with when you get in touch. We'll tell you honestly whether this can be added to it or would work better built into a new one. We'd rather say so than sell you something that doesn't fit.
How do I get started?
Use the button on this page to add it to your project, or send a message. A discovery call takes about fifteen minutes (no pitch deck), and then you get a fixed-price proposal. You'll hear back within one business day.
Is there a long-term contract?
No long-term contracts is our standing rule: care plans are month to month, and any monthly terms for an add-on go in writing in your proposal before you sign anything.