Should I
Do I Need a Website for My Holiday Home?
A website is not essential if you are content with platforms, but it becomes worthwhile once you want to keep guest contact details, reduce commission costs, or build independence from platform policy changes. Most properties earning $20,000 or more annually break even on a direct booking site within a single busy season. If you are earning less than that, or prefer zero direct guest contact, platforms alone may be simpler and less demanding.
When you definitely do not need a website
Skip a website if all of the following are true: you are earning less than $15,000 a year from the property, you are happy with the platforms you use now, you actively prefer not to handle direct guest contact, and you do not mind if platform commission increases in future. A generic Airbnb or Booking.com listing is simpler to manage, the platforms handle payment disputes, and you have no build cost to worry about. Many small hosts are genuinely better off staying with what they have.
You might also not need a website if your property is seasonal or you plan to stop short-staying within the next two years. The upfront cost is harder to justify if the asset has a short runway. Similarly, if you use a professional holiday home manager, the manager may already handle direct bookings through their own systems, and adding a separate direct site could create more work rather than less.
Another valid reason to skip a website is if you are uncomfortable with technology or guest screening. Building a website is only half the battle. You still need to manage it, respond to booking enquiries, handle payments, and make decisions about who stays in your property. If that prospect feels stressful rather than exciting, the website will sit unused while you keep using platforms anyway.
The real pressure point: losing control of your guest list
The strongest case for a website is not commission savings on individual bookings, it is guest data ownership. Every booking on Airbnb or Booking.com is captured by the platform, not by you. You cannot email returning guests, you cannot build a mailing list, and you have no direct relationship if the platform changes its terms, suspends your account, or becomes less favourable to hosts.
A property that accumulates 40 bookings a year has 40 returning guests who might book again next year. If you owned their email addresses and could invite them back at a better rate, or let them know you have upgraded the kitchen, or offer them a discount on a three-month stay, those direct bookings could easily double your profit. Platforms actively prevent you from doing this. A website gives that channel back to you.
This matters more as time goes on. Platforms keep tightening their policies. Airbnb has repeatedly changed rules around self-catering and house rules, pushing some properties into unwanted categories. Booking.com periodically raises commission rates. If you have accumulated three years of returning guests but no way to contact them outside the platform, you are locked in. A website with a guest email list is insurance against policy changes that could hurt your business.
The commission argument is real but not the whole story
Most properties on Airbnb or Booking.com are paying 15 to 20 percent in combined fees once host service fees and guest service charges are totalled. For a property earning $40,000 a year, that is $6,000 to $8,000 in annual commission. Move 10 percent of bookings direct, and you recoup a $2,900 website build in under a year. After that, every direct booking saves money.
But this argument only works if two things are true: first, direct bookings actually materialize (they do not appear by magic), and second, you have the operational capacity to handle them (payment processing, guest screening, booking automation). If you skip both of those steps, you will build a website that makes zero bookings and becomes expensive dead weight. The platforms exist because they solve a real problem: they bring guests to you and handle the messy bits.
That said, returning guests often book direct without prompting. They have stayed at your property before, they know it is worth the money, and they want to avoid platform fees on their next stay. This is the single easiest source of direct bookings, and it happens on platforms daily but goes unrecorded. A website just formalises a channel that already exists for many properties.
How to decide: the practical test
If your property is earning $20,000 or more annually, a website is probably worth testing. A Launch build at $2,900 is small enough that you can afford to learn whether direct bookings actually work for your property without betting the business on it. Many hosts find that 5 to 10 percent of enquiries come direct anyway (usually repeat guests or word of mouth), so a website just formalises something already happening.
If you are earning less than that, consider starting smaller. A $20 to $50 monthly website builder template can tell you whether you want to invest in a proper build later. It is simpler to upgrade from a template to a full direct site than to maintain two separate systems.
The other deciding factor is your time. A website is not truly passive. You still need to check booking enquiries, confirm dates, take payments, and respond to guest questions. If that sounds like work you would rather avoid, a property manager or just staying with platforms is simpler and might even be cheaper when you factor in your own labour costs.
Want to see what a finished direct-booking site actually looks like? Tideline House is a full live example, built the same way we would build yours.
See Tideline House Ask about my property