To take direct bookings, you need a way for the guest to see the free dates and pay or confirm. There are several options, at very different cost and complexity. This article compares them for a hotel with 5–15 rooms.
What a booking engine does
A booking engine shows real-time availability, takes a payment or a card guarantee and returns a confirmation automatically — with no manual correspondence. The difference from a plain enquiry form is that the reservation is final immediately, not "I'll check and get back to you".
The four options
1. Enquiry form
The guest sends dates and details, you confirm manually. Cost: €0 (part of the site). Suitable for very small properties with low volume and for a start. Downside: you lose bookings that want instant confirmation.
2. Embedded booking engine for one property
A system (e.g. the Beds24 base plan type and similar) you add to the site — calendar, rates, payment. It does not sync the OTA channels by default, but many properties use iCal for rough sync. Cost: ~€15–40/month.
3. Channel manager + booking engine
Besides bookings on the site, it syncs availability and rates with Booking, Airbnb, Expedia in real time — the end of double bookings. Cost: ~€40–120/month depending on rooms and channels.
4. PMS with a built-in engine
A full hotel-management system (front desk, reports, housekeeping) with a reservation module. For hotels that are changing their system anyway. Cost: from ~€80–200/month.
Price comparison
| Option | Price/month | Real-time availability | Syncs OTAs | Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enquiry form | €0 | no | no | on site / bank |
| Embedded engine (1 property) | €15–40 | yes | partially (iCal) | card |
| Channel manager + engine | €40–120 | yes | yes, in real time | card |
| PMS with engine | from €80–200 | yes | yes | card |
The engine systems' own commission is 0–2% per booking — versus 15–25% for OTAs. See also direct bookings vs Booking.com.
What a small hotel needs
- 5–8 rooms, low direct volume: start with an enquiry form, move to an embedded engine when manual confirmation becomes a burden.
- 8–15 rooms, active on 2–3 OTA channels: a channel manager + engine pays off quickly — it saves double bookings and hours of manual sync.
- Planning a new management system: look at a PMS with a built-in engine so you don't pay for two systems.
Summary
Don't start with the most expensive. An enquiry form does the job for a start; an embedded engine — when volume grows; a channel manager — when you are on several OTA channels and double bookings become a problem. Everything integrates into the hotel website.
Get in touch — we'll recommend an option based on your room count and channels.
