Next time they come back, let them book with you.
A website for your holiday let where guests can see which nights are free and send you a booking request. No platform taking 15% of the stay.
For cottages, flats and lodges in York and North Yorkshire. Your calendar stays in step with Airbnb and Booking.com, so you keep listing there too.
Guest pays£900
Booked on a platform
Fee at 15.5%−£140
Booked with you
Card fee, roughly−£14
You keep £126 more from the same week.
Every stay pays the platform, even the guests who already know you.
Since September 2026 Airbnb charges almost every UK host a host-only fee of 15.5% of the stay, and VAT may be added on top if you aren't VAT-registered. Booking.com's commission is usually around 15%, and letting agencies take 18–25% or more. On a busy year that's thousands of pounds, and it's charged again every time the same family comes back.
Guests who loved their stay often want to book again, or send a friend. Without a website of your own, the only place to send them is back to the listing, and the fee comes with it.
The same goes for people who find you on Instagram, Facebook or Google: there's nowhere to book you directly.
What the fees cost you
Move the sliders to match your let. The figures are rough, but they show the scale.
You pay roughly £4,500 a year in platform fees.
Each direct booking of £900 keeps about £121 with you, after card fees.
3 direct bookings a year cover the £300 yearly running cost. In the first year, with setup, it's 7.
Typical fees: Airbnb moved almost all UK hosts to a host-only fee of 15.5% by September 2026 (if you aren't VAT-registered, VAT on the fee can take it to about 18.6%; check a recent payout). Booking.com usually takes around 15%, or about 18% as a Preferred Partner. Letting agencies take 18–25% or more. Card fees are taken as 1.5% + 20p (a typical rate for UK cards). The site's costs are setup from £450 plus £25 a month.
What you get
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A site of your own
Your photos, rooms, rates and the area, on your own web address. Quick on phones, which is where most guests look.
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A calendar that matches Airbnb and Booking.com
Nights booked on the platforms show as taken on your site, and direct bookings block the dates on the platforms. It works through the iCal links they already provide.
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Booking requests
Guests choose dates, see the price and send a request. You get an email with the details and confirm or decline in one tap; the guest is emailed either way. Taking a deposit online through your own Stripe account is the next step.
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A guest guide with a QR code
Wi-Fi, check-in steps, house rules, bins, parking, and your favourite pubs and walks. One page on the guest's phone, plus a printed card for the kitchen.
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Easy changes
Change prices, closed dates, text, photos and the guest guide yourself in a simple editor (no password: you sign in with a link sent to your email), or send a message and it's done for you. Edits are included in the monthly fee.
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Someone local to ask
Based near York. Questions get answered by the person who built your site, not a ticket queue.
How the calendar stays in step
Airbnb and Booking.com each give you a calendar link (an "iCal" link). Your site reads those links every 15 minutes and greys out the booked nights.
Your site also has a link of its own, listing the direct bookings you've confirmed. You paste it into Airbnb and Booking.com once, and they block those nights too.
The platforms only re-read outside calendars every few hours, so direct bookings come in as requests rather than instant bookings. You confirm each one, after a glance at your calendar, and a double booking can't slip through.
What it won't do
It won't replace Airbnb or Booking.com. They bring you new guests from all over the world, and most hosts should keep listing there.
Your own site is for the guests who already know you: people coming back, their friends, your followers on social media, and people who search for your cottage by name on Google. Every one of them who books direct is a fee you don't pay.
Direct bookings also mean you look after the guest yourself, from payment to any problems. The questions below cover that.
Pricing
from £450
to set up your site, once
- Design and build around your photos and text
- Calendar connected to Airbnb and Booking.com
- Booking request form and price calculator
- Guest guide and printed QR card
- Help connecting your own web address
£25 a month
to keep it running
- Hosting and security updates
- Calendar sync every 15 minutes
- Changes to prices, text and photos
- Help when something isn't right
£99 once, then £5 a month
Just the guest guide and QR card
- A guest guide page: Wi-Fi, check-in and check-out, house rules, bins, parking, your favourite pubs and walks
- A printed QR card for the kitchen, with a Wi-Fi code guests can scan
- Change it yourself in the editor, or send me a message
A smaller start if you aren't ready for a booking site.
Half of the setup fee up front, half when the site goes live. Bigger sites (several properties, extra pages) cost more; you'll know the price before anything starts.
Who's behind this
I'm Yehor. I build websites for small businesses around York under the name York Websites, and I'm studying at York College alongside it.
Book Direct Yorkshire is the same idea for holiday lets: a straightforward site that saves you money, set up properly, with someone you can actually talk to. I'm happy to meet around York, or talk on the phone or a video call.
Questions
Do I have to leave Airbnb or Booking.com?
No. Most hosts keep their listings. Your site sits alongside them and the calendars stay in step, so you can take bookings in all three places.
How do guests pay?
For now, once you confirm a request you agree payment with the guest directly, usually a bank transfer for a deposit and the balance before arrival. Taking the deposit by card on the site, through your own Stripe account, is being added next. The money goes straight to you, not through me.
Could I get a double booking?
Your site checks Airbnb and Booking.com every 15 minutes and won't let a guest pick a night that's taken. Because direct bookings come in as requests, you confirm each one yourself, so you always have the last word.
Is it against Airbnb's rules to take bookings direct?
Taking bookings on your own website is fine. What Airbnb doesn't allow is using its messages to move a guest off Airbnb. So don't send your site link in Airbnb messages; let guests find it through Google, social media, your guest guide or a card in the cottage.
What about insurance and damage deposits?
Airbnb's AirCover doesn't apply to direct bookings, so check that your holiday-let insurance covers them (most specialist policies do). Many hosts also ask for a refundable damage deposit and send simple booking terms with the confirmation. I can add your terms and cancellation policy to the site.
Do I need to be good with computers?
No. If you can find the calendar export link in Airbnb (I'll show you where) and answer a message, you can run it. Everything else is set up for you.
What do I need to get started?
Photos, a description of the place, your rates and rules, and the iCal links from your listings. Your existing listing is a good starting point for the text.
What if I want to stop?
Let me know and the monthly payments stop. Your web address stays yours, and you can have your photos and text back to use anywhere else.
Tell me about your holiday let
Send a few lines and I'll reply with what a site for your place would involve and cost. No obligation, and no sales calls.