How to Create and Customize Your Direct Booking Website

Your Direct Booking Website lets you accept direct bookings under your own brand — with calendar sync, secure payments, and your guest data managed from your Holidu account. This guide walks you through creating your website, customizing it to reflect your brand, and activating optional features to maximize direct bookings.

Step-by-Step: Creating Your Booking Website

Step 1: Access Your Direct Booking Website

You can reach your Direct Booking Website setup from two places in your Holidu account — both lead to the same configuration:

• Direct Bookings → My website & widget in the left-hand navigation menu
• Properties → [your property] → Distribution Channels → My booking website, then click Activate channel (if not yet active) or My booking website configuration (if already active)

Use whichever you reach first.

Important: This feature is available to primary account holders only — not secondary collaborators.

Step 2: Choose Your Setup Type

When accessing the Direct Booking Website for the first time, you will see a setup wizard. Choose one of two options:

• Create a new website — builds a complete Holidu-hosted booking website from scratch
• Add booking module to existing website — embed the Holidu booking engine into a website you already run

Note: You can do both — the booking module is also available after completing the website setup. See Step 5 for booking module instructions.

Step 3: Set Up Your Direct Booking Website

1. Log in to your Holidu Host account.
2. In the left menu, select Configuration and scroll down to Distribution Channels.
3. Click on Distribution Channels and find My Booking Website.
4. Click Activate channel and follow the onboarding prompts:
   • Review and accept terms and conditions
   • Select your website languages (up to 8 supported languages)
   • Enter your website's name and domain address. If you already own a domain, instructions will guide you to connect it for brand consistency.
   • 
   • Choose which properties to display and their order (if you have more than one property).
   • Click Finish to publish your booking website. Your personalized URL can be copied and shared right away.

Customizable Features

Once your booking website is live, you can personalize it any time by returning to either access path in Step 1. The following customizable features allow you to tailor your website to match your brand and communicate effectively with guests.

Homepage Customization

From your Direct Booking Website dashboard, select Homepage to customize the look of your booking website. You can add an image, title, welcome text, and header image to personalize your page. At the bottom of this page you'll also have the option to enable social media via the toggle and add links to each of your social media accounts one by one.

Property Customization

Your properties will have default images and text that you can customize yourself. The description of your property is taken from your existing description text. Guests can select Details to book directly.

Step-by-Step to Customize

1. Update Your Logo, Title, and Welcome Text

If you update the logo, it will appear on your direct booking website. Adding a title will display it over the header image, while the welcome text will appear beneath the main header image. When you upload a header image, it will be shown as the main image on your direct booking website. Please ensure the header image is no larger than 8 MB.

Important: Use only your own images for your direct booking website. Do not use images from Google or other image platforms — you risk copyright infringement.

2. Add Your Host Profile Information

To add information about yourself as a host, select Your host in the content area of the side panel. Enable the Your host toggle to make it visible for guests. Write information about yourself as a host in the box provided and upload an image. When you are finished with your text, select Save.

Guests will find the Host area of your direct booking website displayed prominently on your site:

3. Customize Design and Layout

To customize the layout and theme of your direct booking website, click on Design and choose the layout you prefer. Enable the filter bar toggle at the top of the page so guests can search for available dates. You can also choose how the header image is displayed and pick the color theme that best represents your brand.

4. Save Your Changes

Click Save, and your booking website customization is complete. Come back any time to update your direct booking website.

Note: All content except your website name is automatically translated for visitors using the site in another language.

Step 4: Activate a Direct Booking Discount (Optional but Recommended)

Offering a direct booking discount is one of the most effective ways to encourage guests to book through your website instead of other platforms. This gives guests a clear financial incentive to book directly with you.

1. Go to the Discounts section in your Holidu Host dashboard
2. Activate a 5%, 10%, or 15% direct booking website discount
3. The discount appears clearly on your website and in the booking flow — giving guests a visible reason to book direct

Note: The discount stacks with most promotions (except the new listing promo).

Step 5: Add the Booking Module to Your Existing Website (If Applicable)

If you already have your own website and want to keep guests there during the booking process, you can embed the Holidu booking engine so guests can book without leaving your site. The booking module is compatible with WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and similar platforms.

How to Set It Up

1. Go to Direct Bookings → My website & widget in the left-hand navigation menu
2. In your website dashboard, click Booking module in the left-hand menu
3. Enable the Booking Module toggle and accept the terms and conditions
4. Copy the generated code snippet
5. Paste it into your existing website where you want the booking functionality to appear
6. Select the preferred languages to match your website
7. Click Save — the module activates immediately, and availability, pricing, and bookings stay aligned with your Holidu calendar

Note: If you need help with the integration, coordinate with your webmaster or contact your account manager.

Important Troubleshooting and Support

Issue	Solution
Host wants to delete website/data	Reset the website via the Admin UI. The host will need to reactivate the channel to start fresh.
Stuck in setup wizard	Perform a website reset through the Admin UI, then restart the setup process.
404 error or domain conflict	Reset the website and/or reassign the domain. Escalate if the issue persists or is unclear.
Unpublished property or disabled channel	Republish the property, reactivate the Holidu channel, and then retry the setup.
Domain input error	When creating a new domain, do not include ".com" (it's added automatically). Use the full domain only when entering links.

Best Practices Summary

• Use the Holidu direct booking website or module to grow direct revenue and build guest loyalty.
• Activate and clearly display direct booking discounts to give guests a reason to book direct.
• Promote your brand and website link across all guest touchpoints.
• Automate guest messaging, check-ins, and payments to cut admin time and improve the guest experience.
• Keep your site and Holidu property data updated for better conversion.
• Use testimonials, personal details, and a mobile-friendly layout to encourage repeat, direct bookings.