A family in Dublin planning August is searching for websites for holiday homes in Dublin and beyond with a short list in their heads: sleeps eight, near a beach, dogs allowed, free the first two weeks of the month, and a price they can put beside the flights to Portugal. They have been through the platforms already. From the house’s own site they want the full set of photos, the truth about the beds and the wifi, where it actually is, and whether booking direct saves them the service fee.
We build the site, set up direct booking with the deposit by card, and send you the numbers monthly. You look after the house.
The guest who has stayed before
Every holiday home owner has them: the family who come the same fortnight every year, the couple who found the house on a platform and asked for your number, the friend they told. On the platforms each of those bookings costs you the fee. On your own site they ask for their dates, pay the deposit by card and pay the balance before they arrive, and the money goes to your account.
The name on the gate becomes the address they type: a .ie domain in the name of the house, registered in your name, and the guide to registering a .ie domain explains the proof the registry needs.
Sleeps eight means eight actual beds
The listing that disappoints is the one where sleeps eight turned out to mean two doubles and a sofa bed in the kitchen. Say precisely what the sleeping is, room by room, with a photo of each: a king in the front bedroom, twins in the back, bunks in the small room, a cot, and the sofa bed if it exists, named as a sofa bed. Then the rest of the house with the same honesty: the kitchen, the bathrooms, the heating, the wifi as it really performs, the parking, the garden, what you provide for a baby, and the terms for dogs.
Guests forgive a small house that was described truthfully and never forgive a big one that was not.
The page about the place
A holiday home is half house and half location, and the location page should be written by someone who has walked it. Minutes to the beach on foot and whether the path is buggy-friendly. The shop and when it closes. The pub that does food and the one that does music. The playground, the pier, the walk for a wet morning, the golf course, the surf school.
A holiday home in Ireland sells better when the page says what there is to do when it rains than when it pretends it will not.
Prices by season, minimum stays and changeover day
Put the rates on the page in a plain table by season: peak summer, the shoulder months, winter, the bank holiday weekends, Christmas and New Year. Weekly rates, short break rates, minimum stays where you have them and the changeover day. Say what is included (linen, towels, heating, a basket of firewood) and what is not. Say the deposit, when the balance is due, the security deposit if you take one, and your cancellation terms. We wrote up how deposits work online in Ireland, including what the consumer rules expect the wording to say. The figures are yours to change from the edit page before each season opens.
January is when August is booked
Irish families book summer in January, in the fortnight after the schools go back, and the first two weeks of August go first. Then the bank holiday weekends, then the mid-terms, then Easter, then Christmas and New Year for the families who want a big house to gather in. A gap that appears at short notice, a cancellation in July or a free week in September, is worth a line on the home page the day it appears, because somebody is always looking.
Registration and the small print
If your property is registered with Fáilte Ireland, or you hold a registration number under the short-term letting rules, the number goes on the site and on every listing.
The site also holds guest names, dates and payments, so it needs a plain privacy notice, and the basics are in the guide to GDPR and cookies for small business websites in Ireland.
What we need from you
Photos of every room and the outside in good light, the sleeping arrangements room by room, your rates by season with minimum stays and the changeover day, what is included, your deposit, balance and cancellation terms, your house rules, the location notes in your own words, your registration details if any, and ten minutes on the phone.
Plan, price and the house that is not in Dublin
Complete, at €1,499 to set up and €100 a month, is the plan for an owner who wants repeat guests booking direct and paying by card. Essentials, at €499 and €50 a month, covers a page with the photos and a phone number for a house that fills from the platforms. The pricing page has the comparison. Most holiday homes, and many of their owners, are a long way from Dublin, so the first chat is a video call and the rest works the same way.