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 “Marketing”.
The street outside is part of your hotel
How guest messaging, local experiences and a traveller board turn a stay into three connections, and why one of them lands as a real line on the folio.
Daniel Vidal
Is there a truly free hotel PMS? What "free" covers in 2026
Three different things get called free hotel software, and only one of them is free in the way you mean. Here is how to tell them apart.
Tribii
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.
Tribii
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.
Tribii
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.
Tribii
How much commission does Booking.com take, and how to pay less
The headline rate is only part of the bill. Here is what you actually pay, what you can change, and what you cannot.
Tribii
The Second Tab: Why Guests Find You on Booking.com and Book Somewhere Else
Most guests who book you directly found you on an OTA first. Here is what that second tab is worth, and why, after the EU killed rate parity, independent hotels can finally win it.
Daniel Vidal
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.
Daniel VidalRead 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.