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 “Payments”.

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.

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.

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.

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.

OTA Commission Rates: What Booking.com, Expedia and Airbnb Really Charge
A plain-English breakdown of what the big booking sites really take, the fees they do not advertise, and how much a year of OTA bookings actually costs you.

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.
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