Motels, B&Bs, pubs with rooms and parks
Accommodation booking software for Australian motels, B&Bs and holiday parks
Every night booked on your own website instead of Booking.com keeps the commission: A$24 on an example A$160 night at 15%.
From A$900excl. GSTSee pricing →
- Checkouts fixed for 1 Oct surcharge ban
- Keep your PMS, or use ours from A$45/mo
- Websites A$1,200–A$6,900 in 1–3 weeks
- Google free booking links route checked
- You own the domain, site and code
- ★ 4.9 on Google (76 reviews)
- 200+ projects since 2017
- Top Rated on Upwork
Founder-led delivery
Overview
Keep your PMS and we build a fast site around its booking engine for A$1,200–A$6,900 in 1–3 weeks, or switch to our PMS, engine included, from A$45 a month. Checkouts are updated for the 1 October card-surcharge ban, the quote is fixed in AUD, and the site is yours. We're an India-based team with 200+ projects and 4.9 stars from 76 Google reviews since 2017, on WhatsApp in your evenings.
By Ashish Sharma, founder · Updated 6 October 2026
Quick answer
What does it cost to take direct bookings on your own accommodation website in Australia?
With us: A$1,200–A$6,900 for the website, hosting on your own account or with us from A$80 a month, plus your booking engine's fee, or our hotel PMS with its engine included at A$45 a month or A$399 a year. Google free booking links add no commission but need a live rate feed from a connectivity partner. Motel Coach publishes A$3,750 including GST (about A$3,409 ex GST) plus a required A$40 a month, and Capterra Australia lists Preno from £19 a month (about A$36) plus a 1% booking fee. Booking.com told the ABC (30 May 2026) its commission averages around 15% globally.
- At an example A$160 room night and 15% commission, each night moved direct keeps A$24
- Since 1 Oct 2026, Visa, Mastercard and eftpos can't be surcharged, so checkouts must change (RBA)
- Keep RMS, GuestPoint, Little Hotelier, Newbook or ResBook once their engine is confirmed to embed
- You own the domain, the website and its code
01of 10
What accommodation booking software includes, and who supplies each piece
Accommodation booking software lets a guest find your property, see live availability and pay on your own website. A direct booking is one made on that website, by phone or at the desk, with no OTA commission. The booking engine shows live rooms and rates on your site and takes the booking and payment.
What booking systems do hotels use? Most small Australian properties run a PMS for the desk, a booking engine for their own site and a channel manager for the OTAs, often from one vendor.
Is any of it free?
Google free booking links cost nothing per booking, but they need a feed from a booking engine or channel manager on Google's partner list, and that engine has its own fee: a subscription, a booking fee or both. Bookeasy's Bookdirect, for example, has no monthly fee but charges commission on each booking.
| Piece | What it does | Usually supplied by | How it's charged |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website | Photos, the total price and the Book button | A web designer, a site builder, or us | Ours: A$1,200–A$6,900, plus hosting (yours, or ours from A$80 a month) |
| Booking engine | Live availability, rate plans and checkout on your site | Your PMS vendor, a standalone engine, or our PMS | Subscription, booking fee or both |
| Payment gateway | Takes the card payment or deposit | Your bank or payment provider | Merchant fees, no longer surchargeable on Visa, Mastercard or eftpos (RBA) |
| Google free booking links | Your live rate and an 'Official site' link on Google | Google, fed by a connectivity partner | No commission |
| Channel manager | Keeps rates and rooms in step on the OTAs | Your PMS vendor or a standalone tool | Subscription, often inside the PMS fee |
| PMS | Front desk, housekeeping, invoices and reports | RMS, GuestPoint, Little Hotelier, Newbook and others, or us | Subscription or licence. Ours: from A$45 a month |
| Guest messaging | Confirmations, directions, door codes, review requests | Your PMS, an email or SMS tool, or a bot | Per message, or a build. Our bot: from A$1,950 |
The PMS and channel manager are back office: compare motel management software and channel managers on our PMS page, or read our Australian hotel PMS comparison, vendor by vendor. For the website, the one thing to check is that your engine can be embedded.
02of 10
Three ways to take direct bookings, with AUD prices
Choose by what you want to keep. Our prices exclude GST (see the note under the price table), and the time column is the website build.
Keep your PMS and engine
Most PMS vendors supply their engine as a widget or a hosted booking page, and we point every Book button at it. For a small hotel, the best booking engine is usually the one your PMS already includes, because rooms and rates then live in one system.
Switch to our PMS with its built-in booking engine
Our PMS includes a commission-free booking engine and a two-way channel manager from A$45 a month; which OTAs connect for your property is confirmed in your quote. See the full feature list or try the live PMS demo (login sent on WhatsApp).
WordPress, if you’d rather edit it yourself
A WordPress site is A$900–A$4,300 and takes 1–2 weeks, with the hotel booking engine added through your vendor's widget or booking link.
| Route | Best for | What we do | What you keep | Our price | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Keep your PMS | Owners happy with their PMS but not their website | A fast site with your vendor's engine embedded | PMS, engine, OTA connections and data | A$1,200–A$6,900 | 1–3 weeks |
| 2. Our PMS plus a website | One supplier, no per-booking fee from us | Our PMS, its engine and the site | Domain, site and guest-data export | Website plus A$45 a month, A$399 a year or A$1,799 once | Website 1–3 weeks; PMS date in the quote |
| 3. Custom | Groups, several properties, complex park maps | A custom build on scope | The code | Fixed quote after the brief | In the quote |
03of 10
What other booking-website and engine suppliers publish (checked 6 Oct 2026)
Most suppliers ranking for these searches don't publish prices. This is what each page showed when we checked.
| Supplier | What it sells | Published price | GST basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motel Coach | Motel websites | A$3,750 build (A$3,550 in a 7-day promotion when we checked), plus a required A$40 a month plan | Includes GST: about A$3,409 ex GST |
| Preno | Cloud PMS and booking engine | From £19 a month (about A$36) plus a 1% booking fee, per Capterra Australia | Listed in GBP |
| Bookeasy | PMS, engine, distribution and websites (Bookeasy Create) | Flat monthly fee, no figures shown; Bookdirect charges commission per booking, no monthly fee | Not stated |
| Netbookings | PMS and booking system | None on its small-hotels page | Not stated |
| Comworks | Hotel and motel websites | None on its service page, which quotes 4–8 weeks | Not stated |
| Bookings247, Online Tourism | Booking engine; accommodation websites | Pricing pages not reviewed; Bookings247 says no booking commission and a setup fee may apply | Not reviewed |
Before you count a required monthly plan, check what it covers, and ask any platform-hosted builder what happens to your site if you leave.
Have a project in mind?
Send a few lines on WhatsApp or get a fixed AUD quote.
04of 10
Booking.com commission in Australia, rate parity, and when a direct site pays for itself
Booking.com told the ABC (30 May 2026) that its commission averages around 15% globally. Australian operators in the same report said they pay 12–15%, and up to 30% once several voluntary incentive programs are added.
Nights × nightly rate × commission rate = commission paid. To find break-even, cost ÷ commission per night = room nights to move direct.
What the 2016 ACCC arrangement allows
After a 2016 ACCC investigation, Expedia and Booking.com changed their contracts with Australian hotels: phone, walk-in and customer loyalty group rates may be lower, but your public website can still be required to match. Accommodation Australia's chief executive, James Goodwin, told the ABC the 2016 changes were relevant for the time but things have moved on. No ban on parity clauses had been made by 30 May 2026.
Same price, more value
Compete on what comes with the rate: breakfast, late check-out, parking or a pet bundle, offered only on your own site.
Closed-group rates and promises
A lower rate for signed-in past guests may be allowed under your contract, so read it first. Flexible cancellation is a promise a small property can keep on a full night. Terms differ by OTA, and this isn't legal advice.
| Cost to cover | At 12% (A$19.20 a night) | At 15% (A$24 a night) | At 30% (A$48 a night) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website at A$1,200 (low end of our range) | 63 | 50 | 25 |
| Website at A$6,900 (top of our range) | 360 | 288 | 144 |
| Hosting with us at A$80 a month (A$960 a year) | 50 a year | 40 a year | 20 a year |
| Hosting with us at A$240 a month (A$2,880 a year) | 150 a year | 120 a year | 60 a year |
| Route 2, first year: A$1,200 site, A$399 PMS and A$960 hosting (A$2,559) | 134 | 107 | 54 |
| Example: a 10-room motel moving 300 room nights a year to its own site | Keeps A$5,760 a year | Keeps A$7,200 a year | Keeps A$14,400 a year |
At 15%, the A$1,200 site pays for itself after 50 room nights moved direct, about one a week for a year. We don't promise more bookings; the table shows your break-even, before merchant and engine fees.
For scale, IBISWorld estimated, as reported by the ABC, about $700 million in Booking.com revenue in Australia in 2025–26. SiteMinder's Hotel Booking Trends 2026 found hotel websites gave the highest value per booking, averaging US$516 (2025 data, no Australian breakdown).
Get this worked out at your own rate in a free direct-booking check on WhatsApp
05of 10
No card surcharges from 1 October 2026: what your booking page must change
Since 1 October 2026, businesses can't add a surcharge because a guest pays by Visa, Mastercard or eftpos, online or in person, unless an exemption applies. The RBA lifted its ban on no-surcharge rules, the three networks introduced them, and the RBA says American Express, UnionPay and PayPal are following voluntarily.
Fix all three places
Add your average merchant fee to your rate plans, then remove the surcharge from the checkout, the hosted payment page and the confirmation email. Under ACL s48, any fee every guest pays goes in the first price shown.
| Charge | Before 1 Oct 2026 | From 1 Oct 2026 | What to change on your booking page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa, Mastercard or eftpos surcharge | Allowed, within cost | Not allowed (network no-surcharge rules) | Remove it; build the cost into the rate |
| Amex, UnionPay or PayPal surcharge | Allowed | Removed voluntarily (Amex and UnionPay from 1 Oct, PayPal from 5 Oct 2026, per the RBA) | Remove it; these rules are voluntary, so check your gateway's terms |
| Booking or service fee | Allowed | Outside the card ban, unless charged only to card payers | If every guest pays it, include it in the total (ACL s48) |
| Cleaning or resort fee | Allowed | Unchanged | Include it in the first price shown |
| Weekend or public-holiday surcharge | Allowed | Outside the ban | Show it in the nightly price for those dates |
Lower interchange caps on domestic cards also apply from 1 October 2026, and caps on foreign-issued cards from 1 April 2027. Fee publication requirements start on 30 October 2026, with detailed merchant statements from 1 April 2027 (RBA).
Ask on WhatsApp for a free check of your checkout against the surcharge rules
06of 10
Google free booking links for motels and parks, step by step
Free booking links are unpaid 'Official site' entries showing your live rate and linking to your own booking engine in Google Search, Maps and Google Hotels, with no commission. Google Hotel Ads are a separate, paid placement in the same results, using the same listing and rate feed; a small property can start with the free links alone.
Step 1: Verify your Google Business Profile
Claimed and verified, with the right name, address and category. Find out who holds the login first.
Step 2: Get your hotel listing set up through a connectivity partner
Your booking engine, channel manager or PMS vendor, if it's on Google's connectivity-partner list, connects your property to Google's hotel tools.
Step 3: Connect a live rate and availability feed
Without price and availability data, no links show.
Step 4: The ‘Official site’ link goes live
Your rate appears in Search, Maps and Google Hotels, and clicks land on your booking engine.
Step 5: Keep the rate matched
Google's rate should equal your booking page total. A fee added at checkout breaks the match.
We don't claim our booking engine is a Google partner; whether your route is your PMS vendor's feed or ours is confirmed in your quote. Your profile and reviews matter too: see local SEO for accommodation.
Send us your booking engine's name on WhatsApp and we'll check the partner list with you
07of 10
Holiday park and caravan park website design on top of your park software
Search for caravan park booking software and you'll find back-office systems. We build the part families book on: a holiday park booking website on top of the RMS, Newbook, RezExpert or GuestPoint system you already run, so sites, rates and restrictions stay in one place. RV and caravan sites are usually powered-site categories in the park PMS, and the website shows them that way.
| Guest question | What the page shows | Where the data comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Powered site, unpowered site or cabin? | Separate categories with photos | Your PMS site types |
| Which site is mine? | A clickable site map | Your PMS site IDs |
| Price for 2 adults, 2 kids, a caravan and a dog? | Per-person, per-vehicle and pet charges in one total | Your PMS rate rules |
| Can I book 2 nights at Easter? | Minimum stays over school holidays and Easter, before checkout | PMS restrictions (school holidays differ by state) |
| Rules and cancellation terms? | Park rules, bond and cancellation before payment | Your park policy |
| Reception after hours? | Arrival instructions in the confirmation | PMS, email or WhatsApp bot |
Which park PMS engines can be embedded for your park is confirmed in your quote.
Directories and booking apps are channels with their own terms; caravan park online booking on your own website carries no channel commission.
Have a project in mind?
Send a few lines on WhatsApp or get a fixed AUD quote.
08of 10
Motel website design, B&Bs, pubs with rooms and serviced apartments
Highway motels: late arrivals
Guests arriving after the office shuts need parking directions, the door code or key-safe details and a number to call, sent before arrival by your PMS or our WhatsApp guest bot. The desk side is on our hotel PMS page.
B&Bs with two to eight rooms
The owner is also cook and receptionist, so the site has to run untouched: a short room list, automatic confirmations, and WordPress if you want to change specials yourself.
Pubs with rooms
Room pages with the booking engine, plus bistro and bar pages with menus and hours. For downstairs, see our POS for the bistro and bar and commission-free online ordering for the bistro.
Serviced apartments and holiday rentals
Minimum nights, weekly rates, house rules and a cleaning fee inside the total: a direct booking website for short-term rental stock shows all four before payment. See also website design on the Gold Coast.
For a motel website design, this is the minimum we build to: real photos of every room type, the total price on the first rate shown, and the room page to payment in three screens or fewer.
09of 10
What a good direct-booking site does: speed, trust, access and guest messages
Instead of unsourced 'bookings lost per second' claims, we test against published thresholds and share the results before launch.
Guest messages, from booking to review
Hotel guest messaging software, whether in your PMS, an SMS tool or our WhatsApp bot, should cover five moments:
- At booking: a confirmation with the total paid and cancellation terms, usually from your PMS or engine.
- Three days before: directions, parking and check-in time.
- Arrival day: the door code or key-safe details and an after-hours number.
- After check-out: one link to your genuine reviews, sent to every guest.
- Repeat-stay offers: only to guests who opted in.
Consent: transactional versus marketing
The Spam Act 2003 separates the two. Confirmations and check-in details with no promotion are transactional. A repeat-stay offer is marketing, by email, SMS or an instant message such as WhatsApp, and needs consent, sender identification and a working unsubscribe, so we add an opt-in box to the booking form.
| Check | Target | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Largest Contentful Paint: the main image or text shows | 2.5 seconds or less | web.dev |
| Interaction to Next Paint: taps respond | 200 milliseconds or less | web.dev |
| Cumulative Layout Shift: the page doesn't jump | 0.1 or less | web.dev |
| Total price | Shown at the first price, mandatory fees included | ACCC |
| Booking form | Labels, keyboard use and contrast, with WCAG 2.2 AA as the aim | W3C |
| Structured data | LodgingBusiness or Hotel schema with address, geo and amenities | schema.org |
| Reviews | Genuine reviews linked or embedded, never filtered | Our own rule |
| Mobile | Room page to payment in three screens or fewer on a phone | Our own rule |
10of 10
Working with an India-based team: ownership, guest data, payments and hours
Codingclave Development LLP is a founder-led company Ashish Sharma started in Lucknow, India, in 2017, with 200+ projects, 4.9 stars on Google from 76 reviews and Top Rated status on Upwork (read the reviews). There is no office, staff, phone line or ABN in Australia. More on working with an India-based team.
Ownership
The domain is registered in your name, and the website and its code (Next.js/React or WordPress) are yours. The engine stays with your PMS vendor, or with us under our PMS. Change PMS later and we swap the embed.
Guest data and APP 8
Guest data lives in your PMS. If we host the site or can see guest data from India, APP 8 cross-border disclosure applies where the Privacy Act covers your business, and your privacy policy should say so.
Payment safety
Guest card payments are taken by the gateway connected to your booking engine, under your own merchant account, on the gateways we confirm for you. Our fixed AUD quote sets out the payment schedule and method, and the site goes live only after test bookings.
Quality and proof
No Australian case studies yet, so check us before you pay: try the live PMS demo (logins sent on WhatsApp), look through our portfolio, and see a PageSpeed report on the finished site.
Confirmed in writing before you sign
Some details depend on your property, so we confirm in writing for your business before you sign:
- that your PMS's booking engine embeds, and how far it can be styled
- your Google free booking links route
- which payment gateways connect
- which OTAs our channel manager connects
- the hosting region, which matters for APP 8
- any room or site limits
- licence update pricing after the first three months
Support, weekends and outages
WhatsApp first, video calls for walkthroughs, email for the written scope. Hosting and support covers monitoring and fixes Monday to Saturday in our hours, with no Sunday cover; on route 1, ask your PMS vendor whether its booking page stays up while a site fault is fixed.
When another vendor suits you better
For one Australian vendor covering PMS, engine and website, or on-site and 24/7 support, look at Bookeasy or Netbookings, and ask what happens to your website if you leave.
| You message us… | Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart (AEDT) | Adelaide (ACDT) | Brisbane, Gold Coast (AEST) | Perth (AWST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At 8pm Mon–Sat, after the check-in rush | Online | Online | Online | Online |
| Our hours in your time | 3:30pm–12:30am | 3:00pm–12:00am | 2:30pm–11:30pm | 12:30pm–9:30pm |
| On a Sunday | Monday from 3:30pm | Monday from 3:00pm | Monday from 2:30pm | Monday from 12:30pm |
| Overlap with a 9am–5pm day | 1.5 h | 2 h | 2.5 h | 4.5 h |
Once the evening check-ins are done, we're online in every state, with progress by morning. From 5 April 2027, Sydney and Melbourne hours become 2:30pm–11:30pm AEST (2.5 hours of overlap) and Adelaide's 2:00pm–11:00pm ACST (3 hours).
Pricing in AUD
Direct-booking website and booking engine prices in AUD
Each piece is priced separately, so you pay only for your route. Host the site on your own account, or with us from A$80 a month. See what goes into a website build in Australia, or weigh a monthly PMS plan against a one-time licence.
Cloud, monthly
A$45a month
Excl. GSTHotel management software — cloud, billed monthly · Ongoing, cancel any time
Cloud PMS with booking engine and channel manager, hosted and supported by us.
Get a quote for this planCloud, yearly
A$399a year
Excl. GSTHotel management software — cloud, billed yearly · Ongoing, cancel any time
The same cloud PMS, billed yearly.
Get a quote for this planBuy once, self-hosted
A$1,799one-time
Excl. GSTHotel management software — one-time licence with source code (self-hosted) · Pay once
Self-hosted, with source code, installation and three months' support.
Get a quote for this plan
Optional extras
Business website (custom design, Next.js or WordPress)
A custom site around your PMS's engine or ours, with your Google free booking links route checked.
WordPress website
A WordPress site you edit yourself, with the same engine embedded.
Hosting, backups, monitoring and support
Hosting, backups, monitoring and support for your website or licence.
AI chatbot (website or WhatsApp)
A WhatsApp or website guest bot for FAQs, directions and pre-arrival details.
- Fixed price in AUD
- Free scoping call
- No obligation
Your PMS subscription, any booking-engine fee and merchant fees are paid to those providers. PMS migration and staff training are free on every plan. Open items are confirmed in writing for your business before you sign.
Prices are in Australian dollars and do not include GST: Codingclave is an overseas (India-based) supplier and is not registered for Australian GST. If your business is GST-registered, check with your accountant whether the reverse-charge rules apply to imported services.
Fixed AUD quote
Get a fixed AUD quote for direct bookings
Send your website link and PMS name, and we'll tell you whether your checkout meets the 1 October surcharge rules, whether your engine can feed Google free booking links, and how many direct nights pay for a new site. Then you get a fixed AUD quote, or the name of a vendor who suits you better.
Ashish Sharma
Founder, Codingclave
Ashish or the team will reply on WhatsApp or email within one business day.
- ★ 4.9 on Google (76 reviews)
- 200+ projects since 2017
- Top Rated on Upwork
- Founder-led delivery
Prefer WhatsApp?
WhatsApp AshishHow it works
From WhatsApp brief to live bookings
A website takes 1–3 weeks from the agreed brief. On route 2, the PMS switch-over date is agreed in the quote.
Brief on WhatsApp
Property type, rooms or sites, your PMS and engine, current website and rough OTA share. Unsure of some of it? Send the website link.
Fixed AUD quote and route
One of the three routes, the payment schedule and the open items in writing. Weighing route 2? Try the PMS demo.
Design on your real photos
Built around your actual room types, sites and rates.
Engine, payments and test bookings
Engine and gateway connected, card surcharges removed, the total price shown first and test bookings run.
Google set-up
Business Profile checked, and free booking links switched on where your engine supports them.
Launch with a PageSpeed report
Live, with results against the checklist above.
After launch
Host and maintain it yourself, or keep us on hosting and support from A$80 a month.
FAQ
Questions Australians ask us
Can’t see yours? Ask Ashish directly — you’ll get a straight answer, not a sales script.
Ask Ashish directly
Can I offer a lower price on my own website than on Booking.com in Australia?
Can I still add a card surcharge to direct bookings after 1 October 2026?
How do I get Google free booking links for my motel or holiday park?
Can I keep my current PMS and just get a new website with a booking engine?
How much does a motel website with a booking engine cost in Australia, and how long does it take?
How much commission does Booking.com charge in Australia?
How do I get more direct bookings for my motel or B&B?
What happens to bookings if my website or booking engine goes down?
Ashish Sharma · Founder
Free direct-booking check for your property
Send your website link and PMS name, and we'll tell you whether your checkout meets the 1 October surcharge rules, whether your engine can feed Google free booking links, and how many direct nights pay for a new site. Then you get a fixed AUD quote, or the name of a vendor who suits you better.
- WhatsApp us or fill in the form
- Free scoping call
- Fixed AUD quote, no obligation
- ★ 4.9 on Google (76 reviews)
- 200+ projects since 2017
- Top Rated on Upwork
- Founder-led delivery
Keep exploring
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Hotel management software for Australian motels
- Live demo
Try the live hotel PMS demo (opens in a new tab)
- Guide
Australian hotel PMSs compared
- Guide
PMS subscription or one-time licence?
- Service
Website development for Australian businesses
- Guide
Local SEO and digital marketing in Australia
- Software
POS for pub bistros and bars
- Reviews
Client reviews
Ashish Sharma
Founder, Codingclave · Updated 6 October 2026
Ashish founded Codingclave in Lucknow, India, in 2017 and still leads delivery on every project.
Sources (12)· public sources cited on this page
- Reserve Bank of Australia – Review of Retail Payments Regulation, conclusions paper FAQs
- ABC News – Booking.com price parity clauses (30 May 2026)
- ACCC – Expedia and Booking.com amend contracts with Australian hotels (2016)
- ACCC – Displaying prices
- Google – Hotel connectivity partners
- Google – Hotel Center Help: starter guide for agencies
- web.dev – Web Vitals
- ACMA – Avoid sending spam
- OAIC – APP 8: Cross-border disclosure of personal information
- SiteMinder – Hotel Booking Trends 2026
- Capterra Australia – Preno pricing (checked 6 Oct 2026)
- Motel Coach – Motel website design (checked 6 Oct 2026)