How to build a vacation rental website that gets direct bookings

Why build your own site at all

Booking platforms bring guests, and they take a cut of every stay. Your own website is where repeat guests, referrals and people who found you on Instagram can book without that cut. It’s also the one place where your houses look the way you want them to.

You don’t need to replace the platforms. You need a site good enough that a guest who finds it would rather book there.

1. Decide how guests will book

There are two ways to take a booking on your own site, and the choice shapes everything else.

• An enquiry form: guests pick dates, a house and a number of guests, and you reply with a quote. Simple, personal and good for a few high-value homes.

• Instant booking: a booking widget from your rental software, with live availability and payment. Better if you have many homes or short stays.

Most small villa owners start with enquiries. You can add a booking widget later without rebuilding the site.

2. Give every property its own page

Each house needs a page of its own with its photos, its rooms, what’s included and its own booking button. Guests compare houses, and they share links with the people they’re travelling with.

In Brisa, my template for villas and holiday rentals, every house is one CMS entry. That one entry builds its card on the homepage, its own page and its place under “Or perhaps another” on the other houses.

3. Lead with your best photo

The first screen should make someone want to be there. One wide, bright photo of the view, the pool or the terrace, with a one-line description and the booking button.

Most hotel and villa sites open with a dark photo and a thin serif. Brisa goes bright instead, and gives each house its own colour that follows it from its card to its page.

4. Answer the practical questions

Guests booking a holiday home want to know the same things every time. Put the answers on each house page.

• Who it sleeps, and how the beds are set up.

• What’s included: cleaning, linen, breakfast, a cook, airport pick-up.

• The amenities it really has. Only the real ones. A ticked pool that turns out to be shared is the fastest way to a bad review.

• Where it is: the nearest town, the beach, the airport, with rough travel times.

• Check-in, check-out and house rules.

Brisa’s house pages only tick the amenities that house has, in the house’s own colour.

A guest should be able to say yes without sending you a single question.

5. Show the people

Part of what makes a private rental feel special is the people who look after it. Put faces to the names, and show reviews from past guests next to each house.

6. Sell the place too

People book a destination first and a house second. An experiences page and a short journal about the area give guests reasons to come, and they’re what helps your site show up when someone searches for things to do there.

Brisa has an Experiences page and a journal, both run from the CMS, so adding a new boat trip or a local guide is a few fields.

7. Make the enquiry easy

Ask for dates, the house, the number of guests, a name and an email. That’s it. Reply quickly, ideally the same day.

Brisa’s contact page has an enquiry form with dates, a house picker and a map, and a Book direct button sits in the nav.

8. Check it on a phone

Most guests will find you on a phone. Open every page on yours, try the form, and check the photos still look good in a tall frame.

What it costs to build

• The template: Brisa is $79, paid once.

• Hosting: Brisa uses five CMS collections (villas, activities, amenities, reviews and journal), so it needs Framer Pro at $30 a month. The Framer pricing guide explains why.

• Set up for you: Template Setup is $249. I add your houses, photos and details and connect the domain.

If you sell homes as well as rent them, Marea is built for agencies with listings, and I compare it in a real estate website template for independent agencies.

Who this suits

Brisa is made for villa owners, small holiday rental groups, boutique B&Bs and property managers with a few homes. For a large hotel with dozens of room types, you’ll want a booking engine at the centre and the website built around it.

The buttons lean toward the cursor. You can try them on the live site.

Can I take bookings on a Framer site?

Yes, through an enquiry form or by adding the booking widget or link from your rental software. Framer doesn’t process bookings or payments on its own.

Do I still need Airbnb or Booking.com?

Most owners keep them for reach. Your own site is for direct bookings, repeat guests and anyone you send there yourself.

How many photos should each house have?

Enough to walk through it: every bedroom, the bathrooms, the kitchen, the outside spaces and the view. Fifteen to twenty-five good photos is a sensible range.

Does Brisa work for a single villa?

Yes. Keep one house in the CMS, remove the others and hide the “Or perhaps another” section. The house page and the enquiry form work the same.

See it live on the Brisa page, or start a project if you want a rental site made around your houses.