Hostzaver.com or other direct booking websites?

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Hi All

This is a great forum and thanks for everyone for contributing. I have operated 3 x properties short term, just advertising on airbnb, in Canberra, Australia and they are going well. I am looking to put run my own website so i can direct repeat guests (and some new guests) there so they can save on the airbnb fees and i can charge that little bit more. Has anyone uses Hostzaver.com? What other direct booking websites do people use? Thanks. Todd

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$400 a year for what, exactly? I don’t see anything there that would convince me they handle marketing, awareness and exposure.
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You can easily have your own site for about $225 for 3 years, and take payments via venmo, stripe. square, etc.

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$225 for 3 years sounds good. Which company should i use for this? I will check it out - thanks.

  • Hostzaver $400/year - i suppose they are doing some of the work for you eg i just did their demo and they just transfer everything you have on airbnb directly on to their template including photos, words, etc, etc - so just time i suppose.
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Do you own the URL or do you ? @todd1

If they own it run a mile .

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It says that “host has can use their own URL” on their website.

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This website has a lot of text in all caps. An occasional word is fine but full sentences in all caps is a big red flag for me. The developers might not know what they are doing.

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I haven’t heard of this group, but there are other options like Lodgify, OwnerRez, Tokeet, YourPorterApp, Uplisting, Houfy, etc. I haven’t used these and the prices vary, but those are ones I have found in my research.

I built my own site - first thru WIX and then through WordPress. WIX was about the same as the sites listed above and not 100% vacation rental friendly, but there were plugins to use.

Ultimately I’ve been happier with WordPress because it’s free, open source, and all I’ve had to pay is for the hosting with an independent company. My hosting was $99 for 3 years and I own my own domain for a little bit more than that. WordPress definitely has a learning curve that I’m catching on to but I’m a :nerd_face: so that works for me! My current site is being redone (I like to learn and play).

It has done well, and I’ve been pleased with the experience.

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Thanks @LCL - this is great information and much appreciated. I got my properties on Houfy, that was really easy and they look great. I am going to have a look at Wordpress and the others today - thanks for everyone’s help

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$99 for 3 years? Maybe an old offer - which was very good. They are much more now.

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Yes, I’m 2 years in on a 3 year sign up so I’m not looking forward to the inevitable price hike in 11/2022.