How Much Are You Actually Investing in Direct Bookings — and Is It Worth It?

Question

Every STR operator I talk to says they want more direct bookings. Fewer fees, better margins, a relationship with repeat guests. Makes sense. But when I actually look at how much time and money people — including myself — are putting toward making that happen, the results seem pretty mixed.

I've played around with a direct booking website, email capture, and a loyalty discount for returning guests. Honest assessment: the conversion rate is real but slower to build than I expected, and the upfront cost in time wasn't trivial.

What I'm curious about is whether the people who've actually cracked this are doing something structurally different — not just 'we have a website' but genuine channel diversification. Things like:

— Corporate/relocation housing partnerships
— Niche OTAs outside Airbnb/VRBO (Furnished Finder, Hipcamp, etc.)
— Local referral networks with realtors or employers
— Social media funnels that actually convert

For those of you doing 20%+ of bookings outside Airbnb/VRBO, what moved the needle? And for those who tried and deprioritized it — what made you decide the ROI wasn't worth it relative to just optimizing your OTA listings?

Genuinely open to either answer. I think there's a real conversation to be had about when direct bookings make strategic sense and when OTA optimization is the better use of energy.

Patricia Andriolo-Bull · Answer

The only reason I want direct bookings is to not be reliant on the OTAs, rankings, etc.  In the end, it costs me the same if not more to manage my own website (even though it is easily created through OwnerRez) but I pay credit card processing fees which are essentially the same as paying Airbnb or VRBO.  It ends up cheaper for guests so good to have in that aspect also, but it's definitely not cheaper especially if you throw in marketing (ads) expenses.

Andrew Steffens · Answer

I once in 2023-24 dumped a lot into trying to covert guests to direct booking via Google and Facebook ads and I would have had more fun just lighting the money on fire.  I have had better results using StayFi + Constant Contact campaigns to my previous guest pool.

Cliff H. · Answer

This question is almost as common as the “what STR system is the best?”

The problem with this question is it’s starting with the wrong question.

The real question is:

Do you want to rent a system that pays you money or do you want to do the extensive  work needed to build a business you own, that requires care, feeding, and a lot of education around mailing lists, SEO, web design, and a solid loyalty program?

There’s no wrong answer here. Different strokes for different folks. Time or money, you choose.

Just don’t mistake listing a property on AirBnB, VRBO, Booking, etc for having a business; you’re renting a classified ad with placement that varies on how well you abide by someone else’s rule, how much profit you’re willing to give up for promotion, and how long you can survive in a “sharing economy” that was only ever about building bigger gatekeepers, not making you rich on someone else’s business.

Ryan Moyer · Answer

These are the direct bookings we've taken in the last month (sorted by booking date)

In terms of investment, I would say fairly extensive, both time and money. The reason most people fail at direct book is that they build a website...

That is useless.

It needs to be a whole booking funnel with nurture sequence, re-booking sequence, etc.

It's like I always say. "Think like a guest". You're a guest and you come across randompropertywebsite.com. It has no google reviews. It has no trust. Are you going to drop $4000 there?

Obvioiusly not.

So convert your 5* airbnb reviews to google reviews (SMS automation). On the website, when the guest lands offer them something free. Then email them more free stuff. Actual helpful stuff. Now between that and the google reviews, you have trust, and they are comfortable dropping dimes with you.

Then when they stay, offer them a $100 gift card for a referral that follows through and books.

When they check out, remarket to them for their next stay.

It's a whole thing. Not "throw up a website and pray". That is a waste of time and money.

Collin Hays · Answer

Your efforts might be better spent opening a lemonade stand in the back yard.

Michael Baum · Answer

SEO is quite difficult these days and you really need a pro company to drive it.

Trying to do it alone on a small business like ours is nearly impossible to get good, measurable results.

I guess I can see moving repeat guests off the big OTA's. I have done that. People say they want to stay again so I tell them to reach out directly and I will hook them up.

I have been using Zelle for those payments so no charges either way.

Ryan Moyer · Answer

Yep. 15 years ago I ran a digital marketing/SEO company. When the original Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 released in 2011 as the most popular game in the country, I built a site that ranked 1st on google for it.

The actual owner of the game couldn't outrank my site, so they bought it from me.

I only bring that up to say that, with that background, I don't spend a minute on SEO for our direct book site. SEO has changed, it takes real authority. You're just not going to beat the big sites anymore. You need to invest $50,000 over 3 years to get any meaningful impact out of SEO these days, and it's still not going to bring in as good of traffic as just being active in FB groups for your area and sending people to your direct book site with nurture sequence. SEO is the wrong approach.

Koba Molenaar · Answer

@John Racine, you raise valid concerns. I usually advise hosts to add a direct booking website at some stage. It's not necessarily because of the revenue benefits, but rather for the marketing purposes. As you mentioned, it can be used to capture emails, but there are other benefits other than direct communication. As you're free to add much more content, it's great for SEO and AEO. That alone, for me, is enough reason to get one. Yes, the upfront cost in time isn't trivial, but there are many great website builders that speed up the process.

John Racine · Answer

Thanks @Koba Molenaar. I agree. I use Guesty and have a direct booking site built through it. I did build out the site a bit more to marketing of Co-hosting Leads and I have a blog to strive for some organic search. Still pretty early on to gauge the results but I do see activity.

Michael Eskenasy · Answer

Most people don’t have a direct booking problem.

They have a demand ownership problem.

A website, email capture, loyalty discounts—those are tools.

They only work if you already control why someone would come to you first instead of Airbnb.

That’s why the results feel slow. You’re trying to convert traffic you don’t actually own.

The operators doing 20%+ off-platform usually aren’t just “better at websites.”

They’ve shifted one layer up:

1) They control a demand source

• Corporate/insurance/relocation pipelines
• Niche use cases (travel nurses, sports teams, events)
• Repeat guest loops with a reason to come back to them specifically

2) They reduce decision friction outside OTAs

• Clear pricing, availability, and trust signals without platform crutches
• Fast response + simple booking flow (not “fill out a form and wait”)

3) They treat OTAs as top-of-funnel, not competitors

• First stay = Airbnb
• Second stay = direct (with a reason, not just a discount)

Where people stall is trying to replace Airbnb traffic instead of capturing it over time.

The ROI question comes down to this:

• If you’re relying on search/discovery → OTAs win
• If you can generate or intercept demand before it hits OTAs → direct wins

So it’s less “is direct booking worth it?”

and more “do you have a repeatable way to generate demand that doesn’t start on Airbnb?”

How Much Are You Actually Investing in Direct Bookings — and Is It Worth It?

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