How to take direct booking enquiries for a holiday let alongside the big platforms

Why enquiries, not instant booking

If you also list on one or more platforms, your availability lives in their calendars. Anticode has no calendar sync, so a website that took bookings instantly could sell a week someone booked elsewhere an hour earlier. An enquiry step costs the guest a few hours' wait and removes that risk. It also lets you check the party size, the pets question and the arrival time before anyone pays.

The property page

1. Describe the property in a sentence: "a site for a two-bedroom holiday cottage in the Lake District, sleeps four, dog friendly, with photos, a description, the area, house rules and an enquiry form".
2. Use your own photos: every room, the view, the outside space, the parking. On a designed site they show as entries in a rooms collection whose image field holds hosted addresses (uploads are placed by the model only in app builds); make sure each has alt text that says what it shows.
3. Write the facts guests check first: sleeps how many, bedrooms and beds, bathrooms, pets, parking, wifi, check-in and check-out times, minimum stay, cancellation terms.
4. Give prices as a guide: "from 650 a week in winter, 1,100 in August", with your currency in the words around it, so guests self-select before enquiring.
5. Add the area: what's walking distance, the nearest shop, a few favourite days out. Link to a map rather than embedding one; embeds don't work on published pages.
6. Connect your own domain on a paid plan so the address is the cottage's name. That's what returning guests will type.

The enquiry form

The simplest option is the built-in contact form (name, email, message) with a prompt above it: "Tell us your dates, how many adults, children and dogs, and anything we should know." If you'd rather have separate fields, build a custom form tied to a site function, with fields such as arrival date, departure date, number of nights and guests. A formula function can work on numbers only, so it could show an indicative total on the thank-you page (nights times a nightly rate, plus a cleaning fee) but can't read dates or seasons. Make it clear the figure is a guide until you confirm.

From enquiry to confirmed stay

1. The enquiry arrives in the dashboard and, if the email setting is on, in your inbox. You can also copy enquiries to a Google Sheet or Slack.
2. Check every calendar: each platform you list on and your own. If you use a channel manager, check that.
3. Reply from your own email within a few hours with availability, the exact price and your terms. Anticode doesn't email the guest.
4. Block the dates on every platform at once, before you take payment, so nobody else can book them.
5. Send a payment request from your payment provider for that booking's amount. Your site's buy button opens one shared payment link per account, which suits a fixed amount, not stays that vary in length and season, so a per-booking invoice or payment request from Stripe, PayPal or similar fits better.
6. Confirm in writing once paid: dates, address, check-in details, house rules.
7. Record the booking in your own calendar or sheet.

Platforms and your direct site

Many booking platforms' terms forbid steering guests who found you there to book off the platform, so read yours. The direct site is for people who come to you directly: past guests, word of mouth, a card left in the cottage, a search for its name. Analytics on the dashboard show visits by source, which tells you whether those channels are working.

Limits

No calendar sync with platforms, no live availability, no instant booking for stays, no deposits or automatic balance payments, no guest emails, no reviews pulled from platforms. Security deposits and damage policies are between you and the guest, through your provider. For more on the property side see holiday rentals and bed and breakfasts; for quote formulas, formula functions.

Questions people ask

Can guests book and pay instantly?

No. There's no calendar sync, so take an enquiry, check your calendars, then confirm and send a payment request.

How do I avoid double bookings?

Block the dates on every platform before taking payment, and treat your own calendar as the master record.

Can the form show a price?

A formula can show an indicative total from numbers such as nights and guests on the thank-you page. It can't read dates or seasons.

Can I take a deposit?

Not through the site. Request whatever split you use through your payment provider.