Do you recognise this story?
Your independent hotel has a basic website designed a few years back. Now the design is dated. It’s difficult to navigate on mobile, and the pages are slow to load. Most importantly, it doesn’t have a booking engine, so all reservations are made over the phone or through commission-based OTAs.
You begin wondering if the reason your profits are down and bookings are declining is related to your website. After talking with other independent hotel owners, you decide it’s time to invest in a professional-looking hotel booking website and begin investigating options.
Here at One by DerbySoft, we understand that this can be a daunting process, so we want to make it easier. In this blog, we’ll detail the options and costs associated with creating a hotel booking engine to increase your property’s revenue. But first, to learn more about how to create an effective website to encourage direct bookings, check out our free eBook: 3 Simple Steps to Going Online for Small Lodging Providers.
Use a Simple Tool Designed for Independent Hoteliers
Many independent hoteliers find the best solution is using a simple tool designed specifically for independent hotels, such as One by DerbySoft. It gives you control over your website by first using the Website Builder tool to design your site, and then the Booking Engine tool to add in the ability to book directly on your site.
Small hoteliers using One by DerbySoft typically find their website costs significantly lower than what web design companies charge, and they see a larger increase in revenue. You can test out the tool with a free trial and see for yourself how easy to setup and use it is. One by DerbySoft has a range of pricing plans to fit your needs – from 79€ per month for a hotel website, depending on number of rooms. Monthly payment plans are available as well.
Another benefit when considering value for money is that everything is editable and accessible from one login. Meaning as your hotel grows and evolves, you can easily make changes to the site or the engine without paying additional fees.
Hire a Professional Website Designer
Many companies specialise in designing websites for businesses in a wide range of industries. When working with a web design company, you will often have many people working on your account, and many will not be familiar with the hotel business.
While prices vary dramatically, if you do follow this route be prepared to pay between 15K€ to 25K€ for a hotel website with a booking engine. After the site is finished and live, you will need to update the site and make changes. Web design companies often charge for each update and change, which could limit your independent hotels’ ability to keep the website up to date.
To see how the website builder and booking engine works, try One by DerbySoft for free for 30 days!
