---

1. You’ll Almost Always Get the Best Price
     (Even If It Doesn’t Look That Way)

At the centre of it all is of course money, yes, for you and us of course, but most definitely the big b&b booking and hotel reservation sites. The difference being that these huge corporations charge 15%–25% commission and sometimes more – on each and every booking.

That commission certainly doesn’t disappear into thin air. It has to come from somewhere.

Usually:

• • It’s built into the nightly rate.

• • Or it forces small properties to operate on razor-thin margins.

• • Or it reduces what we can invest back into the guest experience.

When you book direct:

• • We don’t pay commission.

• • We can offer you a better rate.

• • Or we can include extras (breakfast upgrades, late checkout, welcome treats).

• • Or we can keep our business financially healthy.

Many small B&Bs will match or beat OTA pricing, however we can’t always publicly advertise that because of pricing restrictions imposed by some platforms.

If you call or book through our guest income platform, you’re cutting out the middleman, and that benefits you.

 

 

---

2. Flexible Cancellation if You Have an Issue
     (Often from a Human when Preferred)

When you book through an OTA, your reservation is governed by their system and policies.

If something unexpected happens:

• • Illness

• • Travel disruption

• • Weather

• • Family emergency

You’re often stuck navigating a call centre script.

When you book direct?

You’re speaking to the actual owner.

In a small B&B, we understand life happens. We’re far more likely to:

• • Move your dates

• • Offer credit

• • Work with you personally

• • Find a fair solution

When you book through a third party, we sometimes can’t even modify your reservation without going through their system. Yes, even when we want to help, we are often tied by their policies.

Booking direct gives you a relationship, not a transaction ID.

 

 

---

3. Your Reservation is Safer
     (There are less errors when booking direct)

Most guests don’t realise how often booking errors happen on third-party platforms.

Common issues we’ve seen:

• • Double bookings

• • Incorrect room types

• • Missing special requests

• • Automated cancellations due to card verification glitches

• • Payment processing delays

• • Fraudulent listings (particularly on larger platforms)

When you book directly:

• • Your reservation comes straight to us.

• • We confirm it personally.

• • We can clarify details immediately.

• • There’s no intermediary system misinterpreting anything.

With us, you’re also not dealing with a corporate inventory pool. We often simply have a few rooms, so accuracy matters and easy to manage when dealing direct.

Booking direct removes layers of potential technical failure.

 

 

---

4. You Get the Right Room
     (Not Just “A Room”)

On OTA sites, rooms are often reduced to categories:

• • “Standard Double”

• • “Deluxe Suite”

• • “Economy Room”

But in small B&B’s like ours, rooms are often unique:

• • Different layouts

• • Different views

• • Different bathroom configurations

• • Different historical features

• • Different accessibility considerations

When you book direct:

• • You can ask which room suits your needs.

• • You can request a specific room.

• • We can recommend or advise honestly.

• • We can match you to the best experience.

OTAs focus on filling inventory.
We focus on hosting our guests correctly.

That difference matters.

 

 

---

5. We Receive Your Requests
     (Any Comments Actually Reach Us)

Have you ever added a note to a booking and wondered if anyone read it?

Through OTAs, special requests:

• • Sometimes get buried in backend systems

• • Sometimes arrive incomplete

• • Sometimes don’t arrive at all

• • Sometimes get missed when bundled in emails

When you book direct:

• • We see your request.

• • We respond personally.

• • We confirm feasibility.

• • We prepare properly.

Whether it’s for a dietary need, an anniversary surprise, early arrival or an accessibility concern – rest assured that your direct communication with us ensures everything runs smoother.

 

 

---

6. You Support Real People
     (Not Shareholder Profits)

Companies like the parent holdings of the big booking sites generate billions in revenue annually.

Small B&B’s? We’re family-run businesses much of the time.

Commission fees don’t go to us toward improving your stay. They go toward:

• • Corporate marketing budgets

• • Search engine dominance

• • Shareholder returns

When you book direct:

• • More of your money stays in our local economy.

• • It supports local staff.

• • It helps preserve independent hospitality.

• • It keeps characterful properties afloat.

If you love staying somewhere unique instead of a chain hotel, booking direct is how you keep that option alive.

 

 

---

7. You Avoid Hidden Platform Rules
     (So many you cannot see)

OTAs impose rules on properties that most guests (and even many b&b owners) never actually know about:

• • Rate parity clauses (contractual agreements requiring us to maintain the same room prices across all distribution channels. These clauses prevent us undercutting OTA prices on their own websites, and prevent “free-riding” by users who research on OTAs but book directly with us saving money).

• • Strict cancellation automation (technology, software tools, and platform settings to automatically enforce stringent, non-refundable, or high-penalty terms on customer cancellations. Designed to protect OTA revenue and reduce their logistical burden, it is not flexible to your needs and we often don’t even know the OTA is doing it to you).

• • Payment timing controls (deferred payments, instalments, or rigid, automated payout schedules determining when we receive revenue, often delays cash flow causing cash flow instability and frustration with unpredictable payouts. These systems reduce control over revenue and can disrupt operations and our future investments or plans).

• • Penalties for minor system discrepancies (small rate inconsistencies, inventory sync lags, or minor booking details errors – rarely result in immediate, large-scale financial fines but often trigger significant operational penalties, reduced visibility, and therefore, revenue loss for us).

• • Visibility manipulation based on commission levels (often called “pay-to-play,” involves boosting rankings in search results in exchange for higher commission rates. Detrimental because it forces us into a model, prioritizing their commission rates over product quality for our guests).

All these and more, create an environment where:

• • Properties are pressured to discount – where we are giving our profits to large corporations, as opposed to investing it in our own property.

• • Guest communication is constrained – these intermediaries often mask guest email addresses, withholding direct contact data, limiting the chance of direct liaison and successful outcome.

• • Hospitality becomes algorithm-driven – maximizing booking conversion rates by using vast, centralized datasets to hyper-personalize user experiences, instead of our personal tailored experiences that algorithms cannot replicate.

When you book directly with us or other small b&b’s, you almost always step outside that system.

You’re dealing with hospitality the way it used to be, personal, flexible, honest and the reason it became so popular in the first place.

 

 

---

8. Direct Guests Often Receive Priority
     (Nah-nana-naa-nah!)

Sorry, I promised you honesty and so we want to be completely transparent.

When availability is tight and we have to manage early check-ins, upgrades, or room allocations & suchlike:

In most smaller b&b’s especially, direct bookers may often receive priority.

Why?:

• • Trust!

• • We feel you chose to support us personally.

• • Direct communication is easier and safer.

• • We’ve acknowledged a one-to-one relationship.

• • It all feels nicer and more positive when there’s no commission attached.

It’s not about punishment. It’s about appreciation.

 

 

---

9. Fewer Data Layers
     (More Privacy of Your Information)

When you book through an OTA:

• • Your data is stored on multiple systems – often more than you might think.

• • Payment data flows through third-party processors.

• • Your booking is part of a global platform database.

• • These places are prone to being hacked – and your data stolen.

When you book direct:

• • Your information stays with the property.

• • There are little to no intermediaries.

• • Data distribution is limited.

• • No ones interested in breaking in to my house, to steal your data.

For privacy-conscious travellers, we can even take your booking through our app where we don’t even know your phone number if you don’t want us to.

 

 

---

10. Easier if Something Goes Wrong
       (There’s No Blame-Shifting)

When bookings are made through third parties, issues can result in finger-pointing (well the big boys have special teams making sure it’s not them anyway):

• • “The property set the policy.”

• • “The platform controls refunds.”

• • “The system didn’t transmit that.”

• • “You must contact the agency you booked with”

When you book direct:
There’s one responsible party.

That’s quite simply ‘Us’, and we will do anything we can to protect the good name we have worked so hard for. It’s this clarity that protects you.

 

 

---

11. Building a Relationship
       (Can Certainly Pay Off)

Many of our guests simply have a better experience because we know something they do or do not like, even as simple as more private people get left alone or we may interact more with someone more lonely. Then there’s previous or repeat guests, who often:

• • Get early access to peak dates.

• • Receive loyalty perks.

• • Get tailored recommendations.

• • Enjoy personalised stays.

• • Have total peace of mind that we will get them what they want.

• • Some have even become personal friends that we pick-up/drop-off from the airport.

These things of course only happen when there’s a direct connection of some type – as no stranger is going to take you and your luggage back and forth to the airport for free, life’s just not that sweet unfortunately. However, with direct interaction it is certainly way nicer…

You are not a reservation number.
You’re a returning guest that we remember.

OTAs don’t build relationships. Owners do. And we are told by many of our guests that we are “good people” or at minimum we’ve heard that we’re “good to know”.

 

 

---

12. Search Rankings Aren’t Neutral
       (You See What They Want You To See)

Many travellers assume OTA search results are impartial and there for them to see the best is at the top.

They’re often not, as platform algorithms ensure you are presented with what’s best from them that you see.

Visibility is influenced by:

• • Commission percentages

• • Paid boosts

• • Promotional participation

• • Agent accounts with multiple listings

• • Their most convenient platform algorithms

The property at the top isn’t necessarily the best, it may simply just be paying more.

When you research independently and book direct, you are not influenced by a database and instead make a more informed decision based on your own desires, intuition, findings & feelings.

 

 

---

13. In a Crisis, Direct Matters Even More
       (Having Experienced it Numerous Times Too)

Yes, these “freak occurrences” are happening all too often these days and so we’ve learnt clearly during global disruptions like the pandemic, the many airline/airport issues and even more unpredicted weather interruptions.

Guests who booked direct:

• • Were able to communicate easily.

• • Received flexible rebookings.

• • Avoided system backlogs.

Guests who booked through OTAs:

• • Faced call centre delays.

• • Navigated automated refund queues.

• • Dealt with policy disputes.

Direct communication definitely wins during uncertainty as we understand our guests’ issues better than any computer or call centre.

 

 

---

14. Small B&B’s Cannot Cope
       (Absorb endless Commission)

A simple example is a 6-room B&B paying an average 20% commission:

• • On £1,000 in bookings = £200 lost

• • On £50,000 annually = £10,000 lost

That’s affected:

• • Staff wages

• • Maintenance budgets

• • Linen upgrades

• • Services offered

• • Even breakfast quality in some places

When you book direct, you’re helping maintain the very standards you expect & deserve… Now, instead of the fees helping fill the pockets of the conglomerates, it goes directly towards improving the quality of your stay.

 

 

---

15. Booking Direct Is Simpler Than Ever
       (Messenger/Web/Phone App)

Even many smaller b&b’s like us now use personal easy-to-use, instant-booking platforms like the one we got from ‘guest income’:

• • Secure online booking facility

• • Direct payment options

• • Clear cancellation policies

• • Immediate confirmation

• • Transparent pricing

There is no longer the uncertainty during a convenience gap whilst waiting for agent updates, instead we both benefit from the simplicity & efficiency of your booking coming straight to our phones.

 

 

———————–

 

 

Summary

If You’ve Read This Far… I must be getting somewhere 

 

 

 

If you love unique places with a personalized service and would prefer independent hospitality from a better priced local business that is easy to deal with, then booking direct isn’t just a preference, it’s necessary for you.

When you choose a small B&B like us and many of our friends, you’re already saying you value something different from mass-market travel, and we really notice that. Booking direct ensures that difference survives, it helps us with our fight against the bullying superpowers that hold/have held control over us for many years, and more importantly than anything, it guarantees we can give you the best personal service possible. Business is simple… it’s big greedy companies that make it complicated 🙂

From one B&B owner to every future guest “We would much rather welcome you personally than you be sent to us through an algorithm, and we promise your stay will be better because of it”.

 

———————–

 

Thank You!

My best wishes to you, especially if you have taken the time to read this. I sincerely hope it helps people looking for the right b&b to get what they want, and hopefully even tempted a b&b to take the bold move we did when switching to running our business ourself – without the support the bullies say they offer.

 

 

Things are better now!

Yes we make more money now with the pack we bought from guestincome, yes our b&b has improved and expanded, but for us it was about was was unfair back then, when we worked sooo hard and then gave all our profit to some platform. Now every penny goes to us, we have peace of mind and even time to write posts like this that may help others.

 

Good luck to all… b&b owners, searching guests… 

…and even good luck to the big OTA’s too! Yes, whilst I’m sure you can convince yourselves in your huge meetings that “it’s all about guest experience” etc. The reality is that you would not do it for free (and yet we do) and now many of us have finally found out how to break away from your control, offer our services direct, and so perhaps you do need some luck as this news is spreading fast. Ever heard that, the bigger they are the harder they fall, we wouldn’t want that to affect your ROI.  

 

To Guest income 

I also want to say a big thank from my husband and I, to the support staff at guest income (especially Terri & Rick), who helped us loads when we first went it alone with one of their rental packs, you saved our bacon (yes we now serve breakfasts hehe). On a more personal note to your cause, “Please share this if you wish, as we know you can help others that are perhaps scared like were back then, and despite I have not added any contact details (we’re not looking for free plugging or notoriety), but please feel free to let others contact us if you choose, so we can personally answer any questions about how the pack we bought from you transformed our lives”.

 

Take care all, Peace & Love
XXXXX