Direct bookings from your own website: how to get requests straight from guests

Why direct bookings pay off

• No channel commission comes off your revenue. The full price of the stay stays with the owner.
• You keep the relationship with the guest. You can invite the guest back and offer an available property directly.
• Your own terms. The owner sets the prepayment, house rules and cancellation policy.
• Less dependence on one channel. Changes to a channel’s rules or search ranking affect occupancy less.

Direct bookings complement booking channels rather than replace them. The best result comes from a combination: channels bring new guests, and your website and guest database bring them back.

Where direct guests come from

• Returning guests. Someone who has already stayed with you and was happy is more willing to book directly.
• Recommendations. Guests recommend the property to friends and send them a link to the website.
• Maps and search. A listing on maps and a website in search results bring guests looking for a place in a specific area.
• Social media and messengers. A channel or group for the property with photos and available dates.
• Corporate clients. Companies that regularly book stays for staff on business trips.

What your website needs

Available dates and prices. A guest wants to see right away whether the property is free on their dates and what the stay costs. A website without a calendar and prices makes them write and wait for a reply, and they leave for a booking channel.

Photos and a description. Real photos of each property, the number of guests, amenities, location and rules.

Clear terms. Check-in and check-out times, prepayment, deposit and cancellation policy.

A simple request form. Dates, number of guests, name and phone. The fewer fields, the more requests.

Mobile-friendly design. Most guests search for accommodation on a smartphone, so the form and calendar must work well on a small screen.

A booking engine on your website

A booking engine is embedded in your website and shows guests available properties and prices for their dates straight from your calendar. Guests do not have to wait to hear whether the place is free, and the owner does not risk selling dates that are taken.

It matters that the engine is connected to your shared booking calendar: then channel occupancy is reflected on the website immediately, and a website request blocks the dates on the channels once confirmed.

How to handle requests

1. Reply quickly. Guests often send requests to several places at once, and whoever replies first wins.
2. Hold the dates while you review the request. While the manager contacts the guest, the selected dates must not go to someone else.
3. Assign an owner. Every request should have a responsible manager and a reply deadline.
4. Agree on the prepayment. Once the dates are confirmed, agree on payment and record the prepayment in the booking.
5. Save the guest in your database. Contacts and stay history will help you invite the guest back.

How to bring guests back

• Keep a guest database with stay history and mark returning guests.
• After check-out, suggest the guest books directly next time.
• Stay in touch through a channel or messenger where you post available dates.

How it works in Glavbook

• The booking engine is embedded with a single code snippet and works on Tilda, WordPress, 1C-Bitrix and any other platform that lets you add HTML code. It runs only on the website addresses you specify.
• The guest chooses dates and sees available properties, the nightly rate and the total. Prices and availability come from the booking calendar at the moment of search, and minimum stay and arrival restrictions are applied automatically.
• The guest sends a request, and the selected dates are held for them for the time set in your settings.
• New requests are collected in a separate section with a responsible manager and a reply deadline. The owner receives them by email, in Telegram and in the mobile app.
• Confirmation turns the request into a booking in the calendar. The manager arranges payment with the guest; online payment is not connected yet.
• The design adapts to your website: ready-made templates, brand colours, light and dark themes. The engine can show your whole portfolio or selected properties, and each website can have its own engine.
• The guest database keeps stay history and marks returning guests.

More on the page “Booking engine”. How to keep website and channel bookings from overlapping is explained in the article “Double bookings in vacation rentals”.

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