Website design for holiday cottages that want more direct bookings
If a large share of your stays still come through OTAs, you're paying commission on revenue you could capture directly — and your site may not be strong enough to win those bookings on its own.
Free Direct Booking Audit: Google findability and your public booking journey. No obligation.
The problem in numbers
OTA commission
Often 15–20% of booking value leaving the business every year
Seasonal gaps
Weak direct channels make shoulder-season occupancy harder to fill
Legacy booking tech
Outdated booking systems and fragile calendars block clean direct booking paths
See what OTA commissions are costing you
What if
Result
£7,200
Lost to commission / year
If you lowered your OTA bookings from 60% to 40%, you would save £2,400 a year.
- OTA-booked revenue£48,000
Proof
Penmaenucha Farm
Here's what this looked like for Penmaenucha Farm — guests used to email for a price. After the rebuild, they took around £2,000 more in direct bookings on the same eight weeks as last year.
Read the full case study →Questions
Can you integrate with Lodgify or similar PMS tools?+
Yes. I've integrated property management and booking systems for a live holiday cottage business, including calendar data migration with no downtime.
Will a new website really reduce OTA dependence?+
A site alone isn't enough — you need speed, local SEO, and a booking path guests trust. That's the combination I build for. Start with the free Direct Booking Audit to review public Google findability and the route to availability, prices and booking.
Do you help with local SEO for rural or coastal locations?+
Yes. Location-targeted content and technical SEO are part of the website work — as with the North Wales articles built for Penmaenucha Farm.
Guides
Reading for cottage owners
Six starting points. The rest of the Lodgify, fee and booking guides live on the owner blog.
Lodgify API: build a custom holiday cottage website
Use the Lodgify API to run bookings on a custom site — calendars, payments, and OTA sync — without the template builder. See a live UK cottage build.
Read guide →Lodgify vs SuperControl for UK holiday cottages
Lodgify vs SuperControl for UK holiday cottages: websites, Sykes and cottages.com, pricing, and which fits one property versus an agency.
Read guide →How much does Airbnb take from hosts?
How much does Airbnb take from hosts in the UK? Host-only vs split fees, worked examples, and what you keep if the same stay books direct.
Read guide →What a direct booking website actually needs
A direct booking website is more than a gallery and a form: booking engine, trust, speed, and Google. What holiday cottage sites that convert share.
Read guide →Best holiday let software in the UK (2026)
Best holiday let software UK: Lodgify, SuperControl, Bookalet, Bookster, and eviivo compared for cottages that want more direct bookings.
Read guide →Sykes Cottages for owners: fees, lock-in, and going direct
Sykes Cottages for owners: commission, contracts, and how to add Airbnb or a direct booking website without getting trapped.
Read guide →
For holiday cottage owners · Free Direct Booking Audit
Can guests find your website — and book when they get there?
I’ll review how your cottage website appears in public Google searches and how guests reach availability, prices and booking. You’ll get a short personalised video with practical improvements in priority order.
Get my free audit →