How to take direct bookings from repeat guests for your holiday home

General information only, not legal, tax or insurance advice, and it doesn't take your circumstances into account. It reflects ATO and State Revenue Office guidance as at October 2026. For advice on your situation, talk to a registered tax agent (check one on the Tax Practitioners Board register), your insurer or a lawyer.

Short answer: keep the big booking platforms for finding new guests, and give the people who already know you a simple way to ask for dates directly. Repeat guests already trust you and the house. What they need is a calendar they can check, rates they can see, clear rules, and a quick yes or no from you.

Going direct isn't about ditching the platforms. It's about not paying them a cut every year for introducing you to the same family from Ballarat who've booked the same week since 2019.

Does this apply to me?

Read on if:

• you own a holiday house or unit and host it yourself
• some of your guests come back, or are friends, family or friends of friends
• bookings currently run through a platform, a group chat, a spreadsheet, or all three at once

This probably isn't for you if:

• a property manager runs bookings for you under an agreement you'd need to check first
• you manage a large portfolio and need a full property-management system

Why take repeat guests direct?

Because you've already done the hard part. The platform found that guest once. Every booking after that is a relationship you built, with you paying the platform again for an introduction you no longer need.

Going direct also gives you back a few things money doesn't show:

• You choose who stays. You approve each request, rather than working inside someone else's instant-book settings.
• You set the terms. Your rates, your minimum stay, your cleaning fee, your cancellation rules.
• You keep the contact. The guest is yours to email next summer, not the platform's.

To see what the platform fees on your repeat stays add up to over a year, run the numbers in the fee calculator. It's free and doesn't need a signup.

What do repeat guests need to book direct?

Not a flash website. A repeat guest wants to answer three questions without messaging you at 10pm: is it free, what does it cost, and what are the rules? Give them:

• A calendar they can check. Booked and free dates, so nobody asks for Christmas week after your sister has had it for months.
• Your rates, written down. The nightly rate, any seasonal rates, the minimum stay and the cleaning fee. Guests hate surprises at the end, and so do you.
• How and when to pay. For example, a deposit to lock in the dates and the balance a set number of weeks before arrival, by bank transfer.
• Your cancellation terms. What happens to the money if they pull out, and how much notice they need to give.
• House rules and arrival details. Check-in time, where the key is, the Wi-Fi password, bin night, and the polite reminder that the gas bottle doesn't refill itself.

Put all of that in one place you can share with a link. A pinned message in a group chat doesn't count, because it's buried by Tuesday.

How do you move a guest off the platform without breaking the rules?

Carefully, and above board. The big booking platforms have their own terms about contacting guests and taking bookings outside the platform, and they're worth reading before you do anything.

The safe approach is simple:

• Don't use a platform's messaging to steer a current guest to book elsewhere. Read the platform's terms first.
• Do let people who already know you, like family, friends and guests you've met in person, know they can ask you directly next time.
• Do make your own booking page easy to find for people who go looking, such as a link you share when they ask.

Platform terms change, so if you're unsure whether something is allowed, check the current terms before acting.

What should you sort out before taking direct bookings?

The paperwork the platform used to do quietly in the background is now yours. None of it is hard, but it's better done before the first booking than after a dispute.

• Payments. Decide how guests pay you and when. Keep a record of what each guest owes and what's been paid. "I'm sure Bazza paid" is not a record.
• Cleaning. Book the cleaner around each check-out and decide whether the cleaning fee goes on the guest's bill.
• Insurance. Check that your home and contents policy covers short stays booked directly. Some policies treat paying guests differently from family staying free, so ask your insurer.
• Records for tax. Direct rent is still rent, and the ATO's holiday homes page says rental income from a holiday home goes in your tax return, however the booking was made. Our guide to GST on holiday rentals covers the GST side, and why most holiday-home owners don't need to register.
• Local rules. Some states and councils have their own short-stay rules. In Victoria, for example, the short stay levy applies to stays of less than 28 consecutive days. The platforms pay it on bookings made through them, but on bookings you accept directly it's up to you to register, lodge and pay, unless your property is excluded or exempt. The SRO page lists both.

How Brevity Bookings helps

Brevity Bookings gives your holiday home its own booking calendar and booking page, built for exactly this: the people who already know you.

• One link to share. Family, friends and repeat guests see what's free and ask to stay. Nobody books without your approval, and approved guests get their own login to book dates next time.
• No sums. Each stay is priced from your rates, with the cleaning fee added, so nobody has to do sums on the back of a beer coaster.
• Emails that send themselves. Schedule payment reminders, arrival information and post-stay follow-ups around each booking.
• The books follow. Each paying booking, cleaning job and maintenance cost lands in one ledger that runs from 1 July to 30 June and exports for your accountant.
• No booking commission. Keep your platform listings for new guests, and stop paying a cut on the ones who already know the way to the beach.

Common questions

Do I have to stop using the big booking platforms?

No. Many owners keep their listings for new guests and take repeat guests and family direct.

Do my guests need to sign up for anything?

They can see what's free and request access from your booking-page link. Once you approve them, they get their own login to book dates.

How do guests pay for a direct booking?

You agree that with them, for example by bank transfer, with a deposit and a balance due before arrival. Keep a record of each payment.

Do I still need to declare direct booking income?

Yes. Rent is rent however it's booked. Check your own situation with a registered tax agent.

Where to from here

• Work out which of your guests are repeats, family or friends of friends. They're the ones to take direct.
• Write down your rates, payment terms, cancellation rules and house rules in one place.
• Check your platform's terms, your insurance and any local short-stay rules before the first direct booking.
• Run your numbers through the fee calculator to see what going direct could save.

General information only, not legal, tax or insurance advice. Check your own situation with the relevant adviser.