Daylet
Repeat guests are the best bookings a holiday let gets. They know the house, they look after it, and many come back at the same time every year.
On Airbnb, every return visit costs you the 15.5% host fee again. Booked direct, it doesn't. Over a few summers, that gap adds up to more than most hosts expect.
This guide shows what repeat guests are worth in pounds, and 7 ways to bring them back.
Why direct bookings matter: the numbers
One week
Take a £1,050 week. Here is what you keep:
| £1,050 week | Fee | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Airbnb (15.5% host-only fee) | £162.75 | £887.25 |
| Direct, paid by UK card through Stripe (1.5% + 20p) | £15.95 | £1,034.05 |
The same week, booked direct, keeps you £146.80 more. The full Airbnb fee workings are in the post on what Airbnb's 15.5% fee costs a UK holiday let.
One family, five summers
Now take a family who books that week every summer for 5 years, at the same price:
| 5 summers at £1,050 | Fees paid | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Booked on Airbnb | £813.75 | £4,436.25 |
| Booked direct | £79.75 | £5,170.25 |
One loyal family booked direct is worth £734 more over five summers. Nothing else about the stays changes: same house, same guests, same weeks.
A full season
Say your holiday let has 20 bookable weeks a year at £1,050. Here is what moving some of them to direct bookings adds:
| Weeks booked direct | Extra you keep a year |
|---|---|
| 2 of 20 (10%) | £293.60 |
| 4 of 20 (20%) | £587.20 |
| 10 of 20 (50%) | £1,468.00 |
So what is a good direct booking percentage? There is no official benchmark. Hosts in Facebook host groups who take direct bookings describe reaching about 20% direct in their first year, and around half after a few years. Most say it started with returning guests.
What it costs to run
Daylet Pro costs £12 a month at its early price, or £144 a year. One direct £1,050 week keeps you £146.80 more than Airbnb, so a single direct week covers a year of Pro. At the full £20 a month, it takes two.
Who owns the guest
The pounds are half of it. On Airbnb, the guest relationship sits with Airbnb, and so does the fee, which Airbnb sets and changes on its own timetable.
A direct booking is the one part of your calendar where you set the terms. The guest's name and email are on your booking, and with their permission you can invite them back. Read more about direct bookings for holiday lets.
7 ways to get repeat guests to book direct
1. Get first stays booked direct
You can't have a returning direct guest without a first direct stay. Those usually come from outside the booking sites:
- Friends, family and friends of friends
- People who find your own website or booking page
- Local Facebook groups, village newsletters and the tourist office
- Word of mouth from people who know the house
Give every one of them the same link: your booking page. Daylet gives your holiday let a booking page with its own link, free for 1 property and 5 bookings a year. Get your free booking page.
2. Make your page easy to find by name
When someone hears about your cottage from a friend, they search for its name. Your own page should be what they find.
- Use the property's name. Daylet titles your booking page with your property's name and location, so a search for your cottage by name can land on it.
- Use your own domain. On Pro, you can point a subdomain you own, such as
book.yourcottage.co.uk, at your booking page. - Put booking on your website. If you already have a site, add the booking calendar or a floating "Book Now" button with one script tag. See the integration options.
Daylet booking pages also include structured data, a short machine-readable description of the property that search engines read alongside the page.
3. Give them a returning-guest code
On Pro, create a code under Property → Discount Codes. Set a percentage, choose whether it comes off the whole stay or the nightly rate only, and switch it on. The code stays active until you turn it off. Guests enter it under "Have a discount code?" in the price breakdown, and the Uses column shows how many times it has been redeemed. Codes need pricing switched on for the property, but not online payments.
Size the discount so the direct booking still pays you more. On the same £1,050 week:
| Code | Guest pays | Card fee | You keep | vs Airbnb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | £997.50 | £15.16 | £982.34 | +£95.09 |
| 10% | £945.00 | £14.38 | £930.62 | +£43.37 |
At 5%, the guest saves £52.50 and you keep £95.09 more than on Airbnb. At 10%, the guest saves £105 and your margin over Airbnb drops to £43.37.
4. Offer the same week next year
Families who come back often want the same week. Before a direct guest leaves, offer them first refusal on it for next year.
Block those dates in your Daylet calendar for a few days while they decide. If you export your Daylet calendar to Airbnb, the block shows there too at Airbnb's next sync, so the week isn't sold to someone else in the meantime. Set next year's prices and seasons early, so the dates are bookable the moment they say yes.
5. Email them when next year's dates open
Ask direct guests when they book whether they'd like to hear about future dates. The ICO's soft opt-in rules let you email existing customers about similar services, as long as "you gave them a simple way to opt out both when you first collected their details and in every message you have sent".
Then send one email when next year's calendar and prices are ready, before the summer weeks fill. Include the booking link, the code and their usual dates.
6. Let them bring friends
A direct guest's recommendation reaches people who never saw your listing. Create a second code, such as FRIENDS5, for direct guests to pass on. Its own Uses count shows how many bookings the recommendations bring in, separate from your returning-guest code.
7. Make the second booking quicker than the first
When a direct guest comes back, booking again should take a couple of minutes:
- Live dates and prices. Your booking page shows availability and the price for the dates they pick, including any extras.
- Card payment on your terms. On Pro, guests pay by card through Stripe, into your own Stripe account. Take the full amount at booking, or a deposit with the balance collected automatically before arrival. On the Free plan, bookings arrive as requests you accept or decline.
- Calendars in step. On Pro, Daylet imports your Airbnb and Booking.com calendars and checks them every 15 minutes, so dates booked there show as unavailable on your booking page. Each site updates its own calendar feed on its own schedule, so allow for a short delay. The guide to syncing Airbnb and Booking.com calendars covers the setup.
Daylet charges a flat subscription. It never takes a cut of your bookings. The Free plan covers 1 property and 5 bookings a year. Discount codes, card payments, custom domains and calendar imports are on Pro, at an early price of £12 a month that rises to £20 later. See the pricing page for the full comparison.
Keep Airbnb for new guests
Airbnb is still where most new guests find a holiday let. Keep your listing for the reach it gives you, and let Airbnb do what it's good at: bringing you guests you'd never have met otherwise.
Your direct channel has a different job. It's for the guests who reach you on their own, and the ones who come back. Keep Airbnb. Add a direct channel too.
What to do this week
- Work out your own number: your weekly price × 15.5% is what Airbnb takes from each week a returning guest books there.
- Set up a booking page under your property's name.
- List everyone who has booked with you direct, or asked to, and send them the link and next year's dates.
- Offer this year's direct guests first refusal on the same week next year.
- On Pro, create a returning-guest code and a friends code.
FAQ
How do I get repeat guests to book direct?
Start with the guests who already booked with you direct. Give them a small returning-guest code, offer first refusal on the same week next year, and email them, with their permission, when next year's dates open. Make your own booking page easy to find by your property's name, and make rebooking quick with live prices and card payment.
Why do direct bookings matter for repeat guests?
Because each return visit on Airbnb pays the fee again. On a £1,050 week, Airbnb's 15.5% host fee is £162.75, while a direct booking paid by UK card costs £15.95 in Stripe fees. That's £146.80 more per week, or £734 over five summers for one family.
What is a good direct booking percentage for a holiday let?
There is no official benchmark. Hosts in Facebook host groups describe reaching about 20% direct in their first year, and around half after a few years. On a holiday let with 20 bookable £1,050 weeks, 4 weeks booked direct instead of on Airbnb keeps you £587.20 more a year.
How big should a returning-guest discount be?
Small enough that the direct booking still pays you more. On a £1,050 week, a 5% code leaves you £982.34 after card fees, £95.09 more than the same week on Airbnb. A 10% code leaves you £930.62, £43.37 more.
Does Daylet take a commission on direct bookings?
No. Daylet charges a flat subscription and never takes a cut of your bookings. Card payments go through Stripe into your own Stripe account, at Stripe's standard card fees.
Summary
A repeat guest booked direct keeps you £146.80 more on a £1,050 week than the same stay on Airbnb, and £734 more over five summers. One direct week covers a year of Daylet Pro at its early price.
To get there, start with first stays booked direct, make your page easy to find, and give direct guests every reason to come back: a small code, first refusal on their week, one well-timed email, and a code to share with friends.
Sources:
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