Notes from the independent house.
A working journal for independent hoteliers, written by people who have stood at the desk, set the rates, and balanced the books. Read, share, argue with us.
Results for “Direct bookings”.

Free booking engine with a payment gateway: what a small hotel should actually look for
Three business models hide behind the word "free", and only one of them leaves your direct bookings alone. Plus the payment question most vendors would rather you didn't ask.

What is a hotel PMS? A plain-language guide for independent hoteliers
Not a definition from a brochure. What the software actually does between 7am and midnight at a twenty-room property, and which words mean what.

How to move your small hotel off spreadsheets
The spreadsheet got you here, and it is not stupid. But there are four specific places it fails, and each one costs you money quietly.

How much does a hotel booking engine cost in 2026?
Published prices, hidden tiers, and per-booking fees. What the market actually charges a small property, with every figure sourced and dated.

Do small hotels need a channel manager?
The honest answer is sometimes. Here is how to work out which sometimes you are in, using your own numbers rather than a vendor's.

Commission-free booking engine: what it really means
Every booking engine calls itself commission-free. The phrase is doing different work in each case, and only one version means what you think.

Cloudbeds pricing for small hotels: what you will actually pay in 2026
Cloudbeds does not publish a price. Here is what is known, what is estimated, what to ask on the sales call, and when a small property is overpaying.

Channel manager vs booking engine: what a small hotel actually needs
The two tools get sold together and confused constantly. One sells rooms on other people's websites. The other sells rooms on yours.

Twelve ways to get more direct bookings at a small hotel
Ordered by return on effort, not by how impressive they sound. Most of these cost nothing and several take an afternoon.

One system, not twenty: the case for running your hotel on a single screen
How independent hotels ended up juggling a dozen disconnected tools, and what it looks like to put the whole house, guests included, on one.

Welcome to Tribii: a fairer deal for independent hotels
Who we are, where the idea came from, and why we're building a commission-free way for independent hotels to win direct bookings. A hello from the Tribii team.
Read it first, in your inbox.
New pieces, the occasional number worth knowing, and the ideas we can't stop thinking about, sent straight to you. No noise, just the good stuff.