Guest House Website for Direct Bookings

0115–18% to the OTAs

On R30,000 of monthly bookings that's R4,500–R5,400 a month to Booking.com or Airbnb. A direct-booking site costs less than that and you keep the guest.

02No direct-booking site

Guests who find you on an OTA often look for your own site to book cheaper. If it isn't there, the OTA keeps the margin.

03Weak Google Business Profile

"Guest house Clarens" is a Maps search. A thin or unverified Business Profile means you're below the OTA listings and the competitors who sorted theirs.

04Repeat guests still go through the OTA

Returning guests re-book where they booked last time. A site with WhatsApp and direct rates gives them a reason not to.

What you get

Everything a guest house needs to take direct bookings.

One monthly fee covers the site, the booking engine, the Google setup and every edit for as long as you're with us.

Homepage mockup in 24h

A real design with your property name, rooms and location on it. Sent on WhatsApp before you commit.

Full site live in 7 days

Rooms and rates, gallery, what's nearby, directions, house rules. Fast on mobile, where guests look while they're already in the car.

Direct bookings, WhatsApp, Google Maps

A booking engine that syncs with your OTA calendars (no double bookings), deposits by card or EFT, WhatsApp on every page, Business Profile set up and linked.

Done for you, every month

Seasonal rates, a new room, a wedding package: message Renaldo and it's done. Hosting, security and tracking included.

The weekly system

After launch, the work starts.

Anyone can sell you a website. Then what? A Launch site comes with the same growth system I run every day in my own businesses, worked on every week — because the investment only pays back when people find you, book, and come back.

Every week

Google Business Profile updates and review requests
Search and conversion check: what people searched, what they clicked, what they did
One page or section improved
Tracking checked (Pixel, GA4, bookings)

Every month

A plain-English report: visitors, enquiries, bookings, where they came from
One growth experiment: an offer, a new page, a Google or Meta test
A 20-minute call if you want it

At 90 days

Ranking and enquiry review against the baseline
Decide what to scale

By 6–12 months

The goal: the site is a booking channel that pays for itself

A R799 website

Built once · ‘support’ · you do the rest

An agency retainer

R15k+/month · account managers · reports

Octa Launch

R3,500/month · one builder · weekly work · own system · you own the site

Built and run by me, Renaldo, in my own businesses first: the Wellness Hub, XPN, the Tigers Room. The system you get is the one I use.

Proof, not promises

What happened when local businesses got found on Google.

Two Johannesburg clients, same approach: a fast site, a proper Google Business Profile and tracking that shows what's working.

Client · Barbershop · Northriding, Johannesburg

The Tigers Room

On Google for its name within 30 days of launch

Search Console, first 30 days

Clicks from Google in the first month, avg position 3.0

Search Console, first 30 days

Client · Wellness practice · Johannesburg

botthms Wellness Hub

53 → 222

Organic Google clicks per month (4.2×)

Search Console, last 90 days vs prior

7.0×

Google impressions

Search Console, last 90 days vs prior

11 → 52

GA4 key events (bookings, calls, WhatsApp)

GA4, last 90 days vs prior

Figures from the clients' own Google Search Console, GA4, Google Ads and Meta Ads Manager accounts. Periods stated per number. Your results depend on your market, your offer and your ad budget; no result is guaranteed.

How it works

Three steps. No meetings required.

You keep running the property. The whole process runs on WhatsApp.

STEP 01

Request your mockup

Fill in the form above: business name, a link to anything you have (Instagram counts) and your WhatsApp number. Takes under a minute.

Today

STEP 02

See it on WhatsApp

Within 24 hours Renaldo sends you a real homepage mockup, designed for your guest house, with your name, services and area on it. Not a template screenshot.

Within 24 hours

STEP 03

Go live in 7 days

Like it? Say yes on WhatsApp. The full site, with direct booking, WhatsApp and your Google Business Profile, is live within 7 days. Don't like it? Nothing owed, no follow-up calls.

7 days from yes

Pricing

One monthly fee. Nothing upfront.

Published in Rand, the same for every client. No setup fee, no surprise invoices, no hourly rates.

Most guest houses choose this

Launch

R3,500/month

For guest houses, B&Bs and self-catering that want to cut OTA commission and own the guest relationship.

Custom site designed for your guest house, live in 7 days
Hosting, SSL, security and all edits included
Direct booking engine synced with your OTA calendars
WhatsApp integration on every page
Google Business Profile set up and linked
Conversion tracking (Meta Pixel + CAPI, GA4) wired in
Weekly work on your site, Google profile and tracking

Start with a free mockup No setup fee · 12-month term · You own your content and domain

Growth · Done for you

Partner

R8,000/month, from

For guest houses that want the site, the ads and the Google rankings run by one person.

Everything in Launch
Meta and Google ads managed
Local SEO and monthly content
Monthly plain-language report
Direct line to the builder

Talk about Partner Scope agreed upfront · Ad spend billed separately

Already have a site

Octa360

R950/month

Tracking and maintenance only. Keep your current site; we make sure it is measured, maintained and found.

Conversion tracking fixed and monitored
Google rankings tracked daily
Reviews, Search Console and ads on one screen
Monday report

See Octa360 Month to month · Upgrade to Launch anytime

Questions guest houses ask

Straight answers.

How much does a guest house website cost?

R3,500 a month on Launch, with no setup fee and nothing to pay upfront. That includes the custom design, hosting, SSL, all edits, booking and WhatsApp integration, your Google Business Profile setup and conversion tracking. Partner (ads + SEO + site, run for you) is from R8,000 a month. If you already have a site and just want tracking and maintenance, Octa360 is R950 a month.

How long does it take?

You see a homepage mockup within 24 hours and the full site is live within 7 days of saying yes. The 7 days starts when you approve the mockup and send your logo, photos and service list on WhatsApp. If you have none of those yet, we work with what you have and swap in the real thing when it arrives.

Do I own the website?

Yes: your domain, your content, your photos and your customer data are yours from day one. The custom design and code are licensed to you while you're on Launch. After the 12-month term you can stay month to month, or take an exported copy of the site for a once-off buyout fee and host it anywhere. Nothing is held hostage.

I already have a website. Can you fix it instead?

Usually yes, and sometimes the honest answer is that a rebuild on Launch is cheaper than fixing it. Send the link in the form. If the site is sound, Octa360 at R950/month adds tracking, maintenance and daily rank monitoring. Many accommodation sites just need a working booking engine, a Business Profile clean-up and a faster mobile page.

Do I have to leave Booking.com and Airbnb?

No. Keep the OTAs for discovery; the site gives guests a cheaper, direct way to book once they've found you. The booking engine syncs with your OTA calendars so a room can't be sold twice. Over time the share of direct bookings grows, especially from repeat guests and from people who found you on Google.

How do guests pay for a direct booking?

By card or EFT, with a deposit at booking and the balance on arrival or before, whichever you prefer. We connect a South African payment gateway (PayFast, Yoco or similar) to the booking engine. Your money lands in your account; nothing routes through us.

Is the booking form POPIA compliant?

Yes. Every form we build collects only what is needed, states why, and links to a privacy policy. Customer data sits in your own accounts (your booking tool, your Google Business Profile, your WhatsApp), not ours. We'll give you a short privacy policy for the site and set up consent wording on each form.

Is there a contract?

Launch is a 12-month term at R3,500/month with no setup fee; after that it's month to month. You can cancel on 20 business days' written notice once the term is done, as the Consumer Protection Act provides. Octa360 (R950/month) is month to month from the start.

A note from the builder

Every direct booking is a guest you own, not one you rent from an OTA.

Renaldo Bothma

Builder · Octa Studio · Johannesburg

I'm Renaldo Bothma. I build and run Octa Studio from Johannesburg on my own: no account managers, no outsourced developers. I've built accommodation and hospitality sites, including a guest house and coffee shop in Meyerton, and the maths is the same everywhere: the site pays for itself the month it takes three direct bookings.

The mockup is free because it's the fastest way for both of us to know if this is worth doing. If I don't think a site will move the needle for you, I'll say so on the first message and point you somewhere better.

WhatsApp +27 83 579 6504 Renaldo Bothma · Founder · Johannesburg

A guest house website that takes the booking before Booking.com does.