What commission really costs
Commission on platforms like Booking.com varies by country and property; in most markets the base rate is around 15%. Visibility programs such as Preferred Partner add a few points on top. The rate looks small, but it adds up over a year.
A simple example: if your average nightly rate is €100 and you sell 600 nights a year through a platform, 15% commission comes to €9,000 a year. If just a fifth of those nights (120) moved to direct bookings, you'd pay €1,800 less commission a year at the same occupancy.
| The same €100 night | What you keep |
|---|---|
| Platform, 15% commission | €85 |
| Platform, 15% + 3-point visibility program | €82 |
| Direct booking | €100 |
With a direct booking, only your own payment costs (such as card fees) come off.
Platforms are a valuable shop window: they bring guests who have never heard of you. The room to gain is with guests who have already found you but still book on the platform, usually because they couldn't get an answer on your own site or couldn't reach you.
1. Give guests a direct door wherever they find you
Guests search your name on Google, check your Instagram and find you on the map. From each of these places they should reach, in one tap, a page where they can see availability and prices and leave a booking request.
- If you have a website, make booking and contact options visible on every page.
- If you don't have one, or it's out of date, AIroomier gives every property a free page on airoomier.com with a booking form and an AI assistant built in.
- Add that address to the "website" field of your Google Business Profile, your Instagram bio link and your WhatsApp Business profile.
2. Keep your Google Business Profile alive
Many guests search your name on Google before they go to a platform. If your profile is out of date, they look for the information on the platform and book there too.
- Add current photos, correct opening and season information, a phone number and your website link.
- Reply to reviews, especially negative ones, calmly and specifically.
- Google shows hotel prices in Search and Maps through free booking links. Since 30 July 2025, though, showing your rates there requires a Google-approved integration partner, such as a booking engine or channel manager. If your system offers it, switch it on. If not, the website link on your profile is still a free and useful direct door.
3. Reply to messages within minutes
The moment a direct booking is most often lost is when the guest asks you a question. A guest who writes "Do you have a room for 2 from 15 to 18 July?" at 10 pm won't wait until morning. They'll find the same dates on a platform and book there.
- Keep ready answers to common questions: price, availability, breakfast, parking, pets, cancellation.
- Have a plan for nights and busy hours. The AI receptionist Mira answers these questions 24/7 using the live prices and availability in your dashboard, and collects the booking request for you to confirm.
- We compare the options in detail on our AI receptionist vs chatbot page.
4. Give direct bookings a non-price perk
Guests need a reason to book direct, and it doesn't always have to be a lower price:
- Free breakfast or a welcome drink
- Late check-out or early check-in when available
- Free parking or a discounted transfer
- More flexible cancellation
Non-price perks also reduce the risk of conflicting with your platform contracts. If you want to show a different price on your own site, check your contract and the rules where you operate first. In the European Economic Area, for example, Booking.com has been unable to stop properties from setting their own prices on their own websites since 2024, under the Digital Markets Act.
5. Win today's guest for their next booking
The cheapest booking comes from a guest who already knows you.
- During the stay, tell guests how they can book direct next time: a card, a QR code in the room, or a thank-you message at check-out.
- Prepare a small gesture for returning guests, and say so clearly.
- Follow data protection rules when collecting contact details, and get explicit consent before sending marketing messages.
- When messaging a guest who booked through a platform, follow that platform's rules. Invite them back during the stay, through your own channels.
You'll find ready-made thank-you and review request texts in our guest message templates guide.
6. Sell extras yourself
When you sell transfers, boat trips, breakfast baskets or massages directly to the guest, you pay no commission on them, and you build a direct relationship even with a guest who came through a platform.
- Put your extras in one list with prices.
- Mention them in your pre-arrival message and at check-in.
- Mira describes your paid extra services with prices and suggests them at the right moment.
7. Review your platform settings once a year, with numbers
Visibility programs and discount campaigns sometimes pay for themselves and sometimes don't. Judge them by the numbers, not by feel.
- Tag each booking with the channel it came from. In the AIroomier dashboard you can record which channel a booking came through.
- Once a year, work out net revenue per channel: gross revenue minus commission, program surcharges and the discounts you fund.
- Before and after joining a program with extra commission, compare a few months side by side.