I will build a direct booking website for Airbnb and vacation rental hosts
About this gig
Stop handing 15-20% of every booking to Airbnb and Vrbo. I build fast, commission-free direct booking websites that let vacation rental hosts take reservations and card payments under their own brand.
What you get
You get a complete, conversion-focused direct booking website built specifically for short-term rental and vacation rental hosts — not a generic template dropped on your domain. Every build is centered on one goal: turning the guests who already know your property into repeat, direct bookers so you stop paying OTA commissions on every stay.
- A custom-designed, mobile-first website for your rental (single listing) or portfolio (multiple listings), styled to match your brand, photos, and location.
- A real-time availability calendar with two-way iCal sync to Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com so dates block automatically across all channels and you avoid double bookings.
- An integrated booking engine with instant quotes: nightly rates, cleaning fees, taxes, extra-guest fees, weekend and seasonal pricing, and minimum-night rules.
- Secure online payments via Stripe (and optionally PayPal) — guests pay deposits or the full amount with a card, directly to your account, with no platform cut.
- High-converting property pages: photo galleries, amenity grids, sleeping arrangements, house rules, check-in details, and an interactive map of the area.
- SEO foundations built in: clean page structure, fast load times, schema markup for lodging, optimized titles and meta descriptions targeting your town and "vacation rental in [your area]" search terms.
- Lead capture and an inquiry/contact form, plus automated booking confirmation emails to you and the guest.
- A reviews / testimonials section so you can showcase your Airbnb and Vrbo ratings on a site you control.
- Google Analytics and (optionally) the Meta Pixel wired up so you can track traffic and run remarketing later.
- Connection of your own custom domain, SSL/HTTPS, and a short walkthrough so you can update rates and content yourself.
Plans
| Feature | Basic | Standard | Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Properties included | 1 listing | Up to 3 listings | Up to 10 listings |
| Custom branded design | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Availability calendar + iCal sync | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Online booking engine | Inquiry + quote | Instant booking | Instant booking + rules engine |
| Stripe / card payments | — | Yes | Yes |
| Seasonal & dynamic pricing setup | — | Basic | Advanced |
| SEO optimization | On-page basics | Per-listing SEO | Full local SEO + blog setup |
| Booking confirmation emails | — | Yes | Yes + guest pre-stay sequence |
| Channel manager integration | — | — | Optional |
| Revisions | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Training walkthrough | — | Yes | Yes + recorded guide |
How it works
- Discovery. You tell me about your property or portfolio: location, listing links, current rates, fees, house rules, and your existing OTA presence. I review your Airbnb/Vrbo listings to pull together what already works.
- Content & assets. You send your best photos (or I help you organize what you have), and we finalize amenities, rates, cancellation policy, and the pages you need.
- Design draft. I build the homepage and a property page so you can see the look, feel, and booking flow before the full site is assembled.
- Build & integrate. I assemble all pages, connect the booking engine, set up the calendar with iCal sync, and configure Stripe payments and confirmation emails.
- SEO & testing. I optimize each page for local search, add lodging schema, test the booking and payment flow end to end on desktop and mobile, and check load speed.
- Launch. I connect your domain, enable HTTPS, submit your sitemap to Google, and hand over a walkthrough so you can manage rates and content going forward.
Why choose this
Most "website guys" have never managed a listing or fought a double booking, so they bolt on a contact form and call it a booking site. I build specifically for the vacation rental niche, which means the calendar sync, fee logic, minimum-night rules, and guest payment flow actually match how short-term rentals operate. The result is a site that books guests at 2 a.m. without you lifting a finger — and without an OTA skimming a fifth of the revenue.
Every build is performance-minded: fast hosting, compressed images, and clean code, because a slow rental site loses mobile bookers in seconds. And because you own the domain, the guest emails, and the Stripe account, you're building a direct-booking asset that compounds — repeat guests come straight to you instead of starting over on a marketplace.
Who it is for / use cases
This service is built for Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com hosts and short-term rental operators who want to reduce their dependence on online travel agencies, including:
- Independent hosts with one standout cabin, beach condo, or city apartment who keep seeing the same guests rebook — and want those rebookings commission-free.
- Multi-property owners and small portfolios managing 2-10 units who need one branded site with a searchable, filterable listing collection.
- Boutique vacation rental managers and co-hosts who want a professional booking website to win new owner clients and present a credible brand.
- Cabin, lake house, ski chalet, and coastal rental owners in seasonal markets who need dynamic pricing and minimum-night rules baked into the booking flow.
- Glamping, tiny home, and unique-stay hosts whose properties get buried in OTA search but shine on a dedicated, story-driven site.
If your goal is more direct bookings, fewer OTA fees, and a website that ranks for your town and property type, this is built for you.
FAQ
Q: Will guests really book directly instead of using Airbnb? Yes, especially repeat and referral guests. Once people have stayed once, they trust you — and a clean, fast site with instant pricing and secure card payment gives them every reason to book direct and skip the marketplace fees that often get passed to them too.
Q: How does the calendar avoid double bookings? The site uses two-way iCal sync with Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com. When a date books on any channel, it blocks on your direct site (and vice versa). Sync runs on a regular interval; for instant, real-time syncing across many units, a dedicated channel manager can be integrated on the Premium plan.
Q: How do I get paid? Through your own Stripe account (PayPal optional). Guests pay a deposit or the full amount by card, and the money lands in your bank — there's no booking commission taken by the website. You keep control of refunds and cancellations under the policy we configure.
Q: Do I need technical skills to run it afterward? No. I set everything up and give you a walkthrough (recorded on Premium) so you can update rates, photos, availability notes, and text yourself. For anything bigger, I'm available for ongoing support.
Q: Can you build for multiple properties? Yes. Standard covers up to 3 listings and Premium up to 10, each with its own optimized page, gallery, pricing, and calendar, plus a collection view so guests can browse all your rentals in one place.
Q: Will the site help me rank on Google? Each page is built with local SEO in mind — lodging schema, fast load times, and content targeting your area and property type (for example "vacation rental in [your town]"). SEO compounds over months; the foundation gets you indexed and competitive, and the Premium blog setup gives you room to grow.
Q: What do you need from me to start? Your listing links, property photos, current rates and fees, house rules, cancellation policy, and your domain (or I can help you register one). The more detail you share up front, the faster and more accurate the build.
Q: How long does it take? A single-listing site typically moves quickly once your content is in; multi-property and Premium builds take longer due to the extra pages, pricing rules, and integrations. I'll give you a realistic timeline after the discovery step based on your exact scope.
Reviews★4.7(3)
- @hana99★★★★★5
I run two cabins and now both have their own direct booking pages with photos, rates, and a checkout that actually works. Communication was clear the whole way through and the design looks far more professional than my old listing.
- @themakers★★★★★4
Solid build for my beach rental and the booking flow works great. Took a couple of extra rounds to get the seasonal pricing set up the way I wanted, but they stuck with it until it was right.
- @ninafx★★★★★5
After Airbnb kept raising their fees I needed a way to take bookings directly, and this delivered exactly that. My new site has a clean calendar, an inquiry form, and even synced availability so I don't double-book. Turnaround was about a week and every question I sent got answered fast.