In my last post, I talked about the merits of booking vacation rentals directly versus via a third party website such as Airbnb or VRBO. I concluded that the listing sites are useful for being able to research what properties are available but pointed out that, once you’ve found a property you like, it can be beneficial to book directly with the owner, assuming you are dealing with a reputable owner, of course. And you can, to some extent, get a good idea on this from the reviews on listing sites. Listings that have a significant number of reviews and consistently score highly are more likely to have reputable owners (or managers/agencies) behind them than those that have very few reviews or inconsistent scores.

Booking directly can save you significant sums. People might not realise this but on a booking totalling a little over £1,000, it’ is very possible that around £200 of this could be made up of additional fees. That’s quite a significant sum that could be put towards other treats whilst you’re on holiday.

But how do you go about contacting an owner directly if all you have is a listing? Read on to learn more…

What you don’t do

First, let’s start with what you don’t do. Don’t simply message the owner via the listing site, asking to take the conversation off-site so that you book directly. Third party sites can monitor the messages you send via them and usually restrict the sharing of email addresses, telephone numbers and/or websites, at least until a booking has been made via their platform. They’ll no doubt claim this is to protect guests’ and hosts’ privacy and security, but it’s also because – if you book with them directly – they don’t get their commission. Attempting to flout their rules will likely earn you a slap on the wrist or you could even risk being banned from the site in question.

So how do you go about contacting an owner directly, if that’s what you want to do?

Try some basic detective work

Let’s say you find a property that you really like the look of in the village of “XYZ”. Go to a search engine (or social media) and just do some searches for “XYZ accommodation” or “XYZ apartment” (if it’s an apartment) or “XYZ country house accommodation”, “XYZ riverside holiday home”, etc. etc. You get the idea. Look through the search results and you might just find the direct contact details for the property in question.

Try other listing sites

Not all listing sites restrict access to the owner’s own contact details. Some sites instead charge owners a listing fee (rather than taking a commission) and don’t restrict the ability to see the owner’s own contact details. Other sites – such as local tourism boards or chambers of commerce websites – might also just provide owner contact details.

Try some more advanced detective work

Look at the listing for the property a little more closely. There are all sorts of other clues that might help you locate the owner independently. Maybe it’s the owner’s name (often you are only given the first name, but this can still happen in some instances, especially if it’s quite a distinctive name), maybe it’s a photo that allows you to work out what street the property is on, maybe it’s something that’s mentioned in the text. Listings can be full of a surprising number of clues!

Try searching for specific phrases

As humans, we are inherently lazy. If a listing site asks an owner for copy for their property, the likelihood is that the owner will just use text that they already have, rather than create something new just for that one site. Chances are, they will just copy and paste text from their own website – if they have one – for use on other sites.

This means that you can find a phrase on a listing, copy and paste it into Google search, and put quotation marks around it, to search for that exact phrase. It doesn’t have to be many words, but ideally a short piece of text that’s unique and specific to the property you want to contact directly. You might be surprised how often that exact same text recurs on different websites and you might just find the owner’s own website or a social media page.

Try a reverse image search

When you’re on a listing that you like, you can download an image (or get the URL of an image) by right clicking on it. You can then use this to find where that same image is used on other websites – what is known as reverse image searching. Sites such as TinEye, Google Images/Google Lens and Yandex Images are all worth looking at when it comes to performing reverse image searches.

A final word of warning

In the spirit of balance, it is important that I include this final note. When booking directly, you can usually make a saving, and often a significant one, but it is important that you’re aware of the implications. First and foremost, you will not have whatever protections that the third party platform provides. This might include anything from secure payments to dispute resolution in the event of there being a problem with your booking. You’ll also be subject to the owner’s individual cancellation policy rather than that of the platform, which might be different. It’s critical that you conduct due diligence and that any agreements you have are clear. And we strongly recommend that you take out suitable travel and cancellation insurance. However you choose to book, we wish you a wonderful holiday!

Owners of vacation rental accommodation (or self-catering accommodation as it’s more commonly known in the UK and some other parts of the world) – like us at Kendal Holiday Cottages – will invariably tell you that it’s best to book directly. The reason for this is quite simple… third party booking sites take a cut from each booking, and this is often quite significant. So, of course, it’s in the interest of owners that you book your accommodation with them directly, as they receive the full sum for the rental, rather than having to give a chunk to the likes of Airbnb, VRBO, Booking or the various others that are out there.

But of course, you don’t want to know it from the owners point of view. Understandably, you want to know what’s best for you – the person renting the accommodation. So this article looks at the various pros and cons so that you can make a fair assessment as to what is best.

Reasons to book direct

Not every owner will necessarily have their own website, but they might well have a Facebook page or some other means by which you can book with them directly. Here are just some of the reasons to book direct.

Cost savings

Yes, it’s better for the owner if you book directly. But because there’s no commission going elsewhere, it probably also means that the owner can quote you a better rate than anywhere else you’ll find online. If the direct price isn’t already lower, it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

Direct communication

By booking direct, you get to have direct communication. Some listing sites discourage direct communication as they are worried that the conversation might be taken elsewhere (and this can result in a direct booking and missed commission), whilst others will automatically block things like email addresses, links or certain phrases.

If someone contacts us with a specific question about accessibility, for example, I can direct them to a useful link on our website which gives a lot of detailed information (eg. the width of doorways, height light switches, and so on), but would be blocked from providing such a link on most third party sites until the person has already booked.

Flexibility

There can be more flexibility with booking terms, payment options, and cancellation policies, as these are set by the owner rather than a third-party platform. Yes, in some cases, owners can set their terms on sites, but not always and sometimes it is still restrictive.

More property knowledge

The owner will invariably have a greater in-depth knowledge of the property and the local area, and can provide valuable insights and personal recommendations that you won’t be able to easily glean from a third party listing.

Supports local business

By booking direct, you are supporting local business – rather than a faceless corporation – and your money goes directly to the property owner, supporting their business and the local economy. With greater support, owners can further re-invest in their property to make it the best it can be.

Trust and transparency

By contacting owners directly, you can build a direct relationship and, with reputable owners at least, gain a greater degree of trust and transparency. We have many repeat guests who come to us directly, not just because they pay less, but also because they know us personally.

Reasons to book via a third party

Third party sites include the likes of Airbnb, Booking, Tripadvisor, VRBO and others. For some people, booking via a third party site appears a more desirable option – here are some of the reasons why.

Wealth of choice

Third party sites offer a huge selection of properties in one place, making it easy to browse and compare options. Of course, this doesn’t preclude you from using these sites to narrow down your options, identify the property you’d like to stay in, and then do some research to contact the owner directly.

Convenience

There’s no getting away from the fact that third party listing sites are convenient, and not just because of the abundance of choice. These sites tend to be user-friendly, fast-loading and responsive. Of course, the large OTAs have the benefit of much larger budgets for web design, app development and so on, so it’s perhaps not surprising that they run slick, well-presented websites.

Trust and transparency

Yes, I realise I used the same sub-heading for reasons to book directly. But trust and transparency also comes with an established brand name and built-in review systems that provide a sense of security, that help you to make informed decisions. Third parties will also offer resolution in the event of disputes, as well as secure payment processing.

Loyalty programmes

Some OTAs have their own loyalty programmes. Booking, for example, has its own Genius loyalty programme where you can get travel rewards and discounts the more you use them to book holiday homes, apartments, hotels and more. Of course, if you’re paying more than you should (or could) by using such a site, then these programmes might not be as much as an incentive as they appear. It’s really for you to assess and evaluate to see what works best for you.

To sum up

I hope you’ll agree that I’ve tried to be balanced in this article and put forward plausible reasons for booking directly and indirectly, even if – as an owner – direct bookings hold more appeal.

Looking at this from the perspective of the booker, I would actually recommend that you use third party websites to research where you want to stay and, once you’ve found the property you wish to book, try to reach out to the owner directly. This way you can enjoy many of the benefits of each means of booking – you can use a slick-looking website to browse a variety of rental properties and, assuming you are able to contact the owner directly, enjoy a more personal service and a better price – the best of both worlds!

Finding the contact details for the owner isn’t always easy to do, and sometimes simply not possible. But in my next article, I’m explain various techniques you can use to help you improve your chances of being successful in this regard.

One last important word on this subject, though… whether you book directly or via a third party website, you should check the terms of your booking and I also strongly recommend that you take out appropriate travel insurance for your trip. Unforeseen events can sadly happen sometimes, and they can be completely out of our control, so it’s best to have suitable insurance to cover the unexpected.