Straight-talking tips on Booking.com, Airbnb, and direct bookings in 2026.
Booking Engine Fees: The Hidden Cost Most Owners Ignore in Most owners look at booking engine fees and think they’re being smart. They compare commissions, monthly charges, and card fees, then pick the one that “costs less.” Meanwhile, the most expensive booking engine is often the one that makes guests quit. No complaint, no email,…
How to Use Guest Reviews Without Looking Fake in Guests trust guests. That’s the whole point of reviews, and it’s why they work better than any “award” badge you can put on a website. But guests also recognise manipulation fast, especially the ones who book boutique places in Halkidiki or Thessaloniki and have been disappointed…
What guests are really doing when they read your room descriptions in You pay for traffic, you get interest, and then the booking stalls on the last step. Not because your place is bad, but because the room text doesn’t answer the questions people are quietly asking before they commit. They’re not looking for poetry….
When WhatsApp becomes the sales funnel, gets expensive You see the messages coming in, so it feels like things are working. A guest asks “Is it available?” and you reply fast, and it feels personal, modern, even efficient. Then the guest goes quiet, and you tell yourself they probably booked somewhere else. After a while,…
Sithonia vs Kassandra: Why Guests Search Differently in You can spend all winter “improving SEO” and still get the wrong enquiries in June. Not fewer. Wrong. People asking for things you don’t offer, families expecting a resort setup when you’re a quiet villa, couples wanting isolation when you’re next to beach bars. That mismatch usually…
Weekend traffic in Thessaloniki in is different, and it punishes hesitation You run ads or post offers, you see a spike on Friday and Saturday, and you assume bookings should follow. Instead, you get “views”, a few enquiries, and the same empty gaps you were trying to fill. By Monday, the traffic is gone and…
How to Stop OTAs from Owning Your Brand Searches in When someone types your hotel name into Google and the first thing they see is Booking or Expedia, it feels wrong because it is. You paid for the name with years of work, photos, reviews, renovations, and guest care, and now you’re paying again in…
You’re watching Booking.com and Airbnb fill your calendar, and your own website stays quiet. Then someone tells you to “just add a discount” and you feel that familiar trap: lower your rates, attract bargain hunters, and still pay commissions on the rest. You’ve probably tried it once, hated the guests it brought, and promised yourself…
Why your cancellation policy is costing you bookings in You don’t lose bookings because you “have a strict policy”. You lose bookings because the way you explain it makes people feel trapped. They picture an argument, a surprise charge, or a cold email exchange when something goes wrong. And when a guest feels even a…
Do a 10-minute guest audit before you spend more in You don’t need another report to tell you your website “looks fine”. You need to know where a real guest gets confused, hesitates, and leaves. Not because your place is bad, but because your site asks them to work too hard to understand basic things….
