The problem
Every booking through a listing site costs you a commission, even from guests who have stayed before. If 4 repeat guests a month would book direct at £450 each, that's £1,800 a month and, at a 15% commission, £270 a month in fees.
What the AI does
Smoobu's pricing page says the Flex and Prepaid plans include a booking website and booking system, with Stripe and PayPal payments. You build a simple page for your cottages, share it with past guests and on your own channels, and take the booking and payment there. Your calendar stays in sync with your other sites. The page doesn't give card-processing fees. The 15% is an assumption: check what each booking site actually charges on your own statements.
A worked example
An owner in the Lake District has 3 cottages and a list of about 40 past guests. She emails them a link to a Smoobu booking page when new dates open.
Before
4 repeat guests a month booking through a listing site at £450, with an assumed 15% commission: about £270 in fees
After
The same 4 bookings direct: no listing site commission, but 0.9% to Smoobu on the Flex plan (about £16) and card fees
What it's worth
About £250 a month kept if 4 repeat guests book direct (£270 commission less £16 Smoobu fee), before card fees. Smoobu costs about €47 (about £40) a month for three units and Flex adds 0.9% per booking. If you use Smoobu for messaging as well, this part costs nothing extra. If you only get one direct booking a month, the saving of about £60 is close to the subscription.
How to set it up
- Start Smoobu's 14-day free trial and set up the booking page with photos, rates and rules for each cottage.
- Connect Stripe or PayPal and make a test booking and refund.
- Check your terms: cancellation, deposit, damage and house rules, and put them in front of the guest before they pay.
- Email past guests with a link when dates open, only if they agreed to hear from you.
- Keep an eye on whether direct bookings replace site bookings or only add to them.
What goes wrong
- Direct bookings only work if guests find you. If few repeat guests book, a subscription is a cost.
- Check the platforms' own terms before steering guests away from them; don't assume what each allows.
- Guest data and payment data are personal data. Use Stripe or PayPal for payments and don't store card details yourself.
- Marketing emails to past guests need their consent under UK GDPR and PECR.