Vertical guide· 6 min read· Updated 28 Jul 2026

How do I take direct bookings for my homestay or resort in India?

By Storzu·

Quick answer

Homestays, guest houses, villas and small resorts can build a branded website on Storzu for free — rooms, occupancy, amenities and rates are visible to guests on any plan. Stay booking operations (the availability calendar, blackout dates, advance and deposit settings, guest reminders, stay analytics, and taking booking requests on the storefront) are a Pro-plan capability at ₹599/month. Storzu charges no per-order commission on direct bookings.

If every booking for your homestay or resort arrives through an OTA, you are paying a commission on guests who would happily book you directly — including the ones who already stayed once. A booking site of your own turns those into commission-free repeat business.

What’s free, and what needs Pro

Worth being upfront about this before you start. On Storzu the website itself — your rooms, occupancy, amenities, photos, rates, and contact details — works on any plan, including Free. The booking operations for accommodation businesses are a Pro-plan capability (₹599/month, or ₹5,999/year + GST):

  • The availability calendar and overlap protection
  • Blackout dates for maintenance or personal use
  • Advance and deposit settings
  • Guest reminders and the check-in / check-out status flow
  • Stay analytics
  • Taking booking requests through the storefront

So you can build and publish the site, get it indexed, and start collecting enquiries on a lower plan — then switch bookings on when you are ready to run them properly. See the pricing page for the full plan comparison.

List rooms the way guests decide

  • Rooms, cottages, or villas with photos, occupancy, and amenities
  • Date-aware pricing — weekday, weekend, festival and peak-season rates
  • Your cancellation policy and advance or deposit terms in writing
  • Meals, pickup, or activity add-ons as extras

A calendar that will not double-book

With stay features on, booking requests land on a calendar with overlap detection and database-level protection, so two confirmed stays can never hold the same room on the same nights. Blackout dates keep rooms off the calendar for maintenance, family use, or a long staying guest.

Advances by UPI, and no commission

Take advances by direct UPI into your own bank account, on arrival, or via an online gateway using your own Razorpay, Stripe, PayPal or Cashfree account. Storzu charges no per-order commission, so the difference between a direct booking and an OTA booking goes straight to your margin.

Get found on Google and in AI answers

Travellers search before they book. Your site ships SEO-ready with structured data and sitemaps, plus AI-discovery content so assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity can recommend your stay — not only the aggregator listing above you.

Getting started

Sign up free, pick the stay category, add your rooms and rates, and publish. Running a farm stay or agritourism property? See the farm stay guide.

Build your homestay website →

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a paid plan to take homestay or resort bookings?

Yes. Stay booking operations — the availability calendar, blackout dates, advance and deposit settings, guest reminders, stay analytics, and taking booking requests on the storefront — are a Pro-plan capability (₹599/month, or ₹5,999/year + GST). You can build and publish the website itself on a lower plan, and guests can browse your rooms, rates and information; you just cannot operate bookings until you are on Pro.

What do I get before upgrading?

A real branded website at yourname.storzu.com with your rooms, occupancy details, amenities, photos, rates and contact information, plus WhatsApp enquiry links and a free QR code. Guests can find you on Google and reach you — they just cannot place a booking request through the site until stay features are on.

How is this different from listing on an OTA?

An OTA charges a commission on every booking and owns the guest relationship. A Storzu site is your own address that ranks on Google and in AI answers and charges no per-order commission — so a repeat guest who books direct costs you nothing per booking. Most owners run both: OTAs for discovery, their own site for repeat and referred guests.

Can two guests book the same room for the same dates?

No. Each room has its own availability calendar with overlap detection and database-level protection against two confirmed stays holding the same room on the same nights, plus blackout dates for maintenance or personal use.

Can I charge different rates for weekends or peak season?

Yes. Rooms support date-aware pricing, so weekend, festival and peak-season rates can differ from weekday rates, alongside occupancy details and an advance or deposit setting.

How do guests pay the advance?

By direct UPI into your own bank account, on arrival, or through an online payment gateway using your own Razorpay, Stripe, PayPal or Cashfree account. Payments settle to your own account and Storzu takes no per-order commission.

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