Hi, there! 👋 We will be gradually making Direct available to all Hospitable customers starting from April 17th.

We have two different options:

1. Direct Premium - our full-featured solution

2. Direct Basic - our more “do-it-yourself” option

Keep reading to understand the differences in detail.

For now, Direct Premium is only available for hosts with properties in the USA. We hopeful to expand Premium to the UK and Australia next. Direct Basic is available everywhere Stripe is available.

Table of Contents

How Direct Premium Works

  • Link any personal or business bank accounts you want to use for your payouts;

  • Process online payments from your Direct website or booking widget, with

    • Hospitable serving as the Merchant of Record, and

    • Sales and lodging taxes automatically calculated and collected;

  • Accept bookings with the confidence of integrated guest-vetting and US$5M worth of damage protection; and

  • Receive payouts to your bank account 24 hours after check-in, in most cases.

How Direct Basic Works

  • Connect your Stripe account for payment processing

  • Process online payments from your Direct website or booking widget

    • You are the liable Merchant of Record

    • You will need to calculate lodging taxes and add them to your properties, Hospitable will collect them from the guest

  • We do not have integrated guest-vetting and damage protection

  • You control your payouts, but you are also liable for cancellations, refunds and chargebacks

Direct Pricing

You will need to activate Direct features for your account in order to publish and use your Direct site and booking widget. We charge a monthly fee based on the number of unique properties that are bookable on a published Direct site or booking widget. You will see them on your regular Hospitable invoice starting on the next billing date after you activate Direct.

Direct Premium also has a per transaction charge of 6% of the nightly rate and fees + $10. No matter what you choose, these is no host fee or commission deducted from your payout.

Number of properties

Direct Premium per month

Direct Basic per month

1-9 properties

$5 per property

$8 per property

10-19 properties

$4 per property

$7 per property

20-49 properties

$3 per property

$6 per property

50 & above properties

$2 per property

$5 per property

Below is a comparison of how our Direct Premium offering saves you money vs Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com.

What you get in Premium vs. Basic

Basic

Premium

Guest service fee

0%

6% + $10

Site builder

Included

Included

Booking widget

Included

Included

Tax collection

Included

Included

Tax calculation

Not included

Included

Payment processing fees

Not included

Included

Guest vetting

Not included

Included

$5M damage protection

Not included

Included

Direct FAQ

What’s the difference between Direct Basic and Direct Premium?

Direct Basic is the “do-it-yourself” option, primarily for hosts that already have experience in taking direct bookings. With Direct Basic, you can use our Direct websites and booking widget, but you need to connect your own Stripe account, you pay your own payment processing fees, you are liable for chargebacks, you need to know the lodging tax rates for all of your properties, and we currently do not have integrated solutions for guest vetting and damage protection.

What does it mean when Hospitable is the Merchant of Record?

As the Merchant of Record, Hospitable processes the payment, accepts liability for refunds and chargebacks, provides customer support during the booking process, and in general is responsible for the quality of the marketplace experience.

Chargeback liability can be especially important for smaller-scale hosts, where a single chargeback against a small turnover volume could trigger consequences with a payment service provider. Instead, Hospitable can spread the risk and liability of chargebacks across a large client base, so occasional chargebacks don’t restrict your ability to keep processing payments. Let us deal with the hassle of payment disputes!

How does Direct Premium compare with OTAs on price?

We like to think of Direct Premium as a hybrid between an Online Travel Agent like Airbnb and the do-it-yourself direct booking options out there that require a lot **of setup and leave you bearing all the risk.

Similar to OTAs, Direct Premium helps hosts manage risk by investing in things like Merchant of Record liability, guest vetting, and damage protection on every reservation.

Unlike OTAs we don’t pass on the costs of big budget advertising campaigns to you and your guests.

So how do we stack up? Let’s compare direct booking versus OTAs.

In our price comparisons, Direct Premium can save you:

  • 14-27% on a 5-day booking

  • 21-46% on a 20-day booking

How are taxes managed?

Hospitable collects applicable taxes from the guest and pass them through to you with the payout. For Basic, you need to enter your own taxes for each property. For Premium, we will calculate them for you and update them when there are changes.

You are responsible for filing and remitting your taxes to the appropriate jurisdiction in a timely manner (most jurisdictions are monthly filings). In the near future, we will start filing and remitting for Premium hosts in a limited number of jurisdictions where 1) we are legally capable to do so, and 2) where it makes business sense for us to do so. For now, filing and remitting lodging taxes are your responsibility. Premium users may be required to sign regular affidavits that you are properly remitting the taxes that have been passed through to you.

When do I get paid out?

For Direct Premium, we make an ACH transfer to your bank account 24 hours after check-in or when the payment settles, whichever comes later. If a guest books within four days of their check-in we may not have received the payment when the guest checks-in, in which case we will show you the settlement date, which is your payout date for that booking.

For Direct Basic, you are in charge of your payouts. Note you will be liable for cancellations, refunds, and chargebacks.

What’s included in Premium damage protection?

  • Accidental and malicious damage

  • Damage due to theft

  • Damage to belongings/contents

  • Damage to common/shared areas

What’s not covered?

  • General wear and tear/cosmetic damage

  • Damage not caused directly by a guest

  • Bodily injury suffered by a guest or host

What the booking flow looks like

Timeline

  • Private pilot started 27-Feb. We are no longer adding new users to the pilot.

  • Direct will be rolled out in stages to all customers over a four week period from 17-Apr.

  • Following that, we will expand Direct Premium to more regions, starting with the UK and Australia.

Direct Feature Roadmap

In Progress

Next

Later

Booking widget styling - customize the appearance of your widget to better match your custom site.

Instant Book - configure an Autohost trust level and give guests the ability to book instantly

Multi-property search - an OTA style search across all of your properties

Cancellation policy manager - decide how flexible you want to be with guest cancellations

Fee visibility - decide how fees are presented to guests, or bundle them in your nightly rate

Guest Portal - an online guest itinerary for alterations, cancellations, and more

Split pay - divide payouts across more than one account

Tax remittance - file and pay taxes for Premium hosts where possible

More Direct Info:

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