Direct bookings for hotels
Your guests already talk to you. Stop paying an OTA for them.
Every guest who calls, messages or stays with you is a direct booking waiting to happen. HeyKoala answers and books every enquiry, gives every in-house guest a direct line to your hotel, and brings them back without the OTA in the middle.
Works with your PMS, phone number and website. Pricing on request.
The basics
What is a direct booking, and why does it matter?
A direct booking is a reservation a guest makes with the hotel itself, by phone, WhatsApp, the hotel's website or in person, instead of through an online travel agency (OTA). OTAs typically charge hotels 15 to 25% commission on every booking. Direct bookings keep that margin, and the guest relationship and data stay with the hotel.
Where direct bookings leak
Most direct bookings are lost in a conversation, not on your website.
01
The call nobody picks up
A guest calls to book. The desk is busy with a check-in, so the phone rings out. Ten minutes later the same guest books you on an OTA.
02
The WhatsApp reply that comes tomorrow
An enquiry lands at 11pm. By the time someone answers, the guest has compared three listings and booked the one that replied.
03
The OTA guest who never hears from you
They stay three nights, love it, and next year search the same OTA again. Nothing in the stay taught them they can book you directly.
04
No follow-up after checkout
No thank-you, no feedback, no reason to come back direct. The relationship ends at the front desk.
How HeyKoala wins them back
Before, during and after the stay.
Every enquiry answered and booked
Voice and WhatsApp AI pick up every call and message, day and night, in 26+ languages. It checks live availability in your PMS, takes payment during the call and confirms on WhatsApp. The booking is yours, not an OTA's.
Reservations AIOTA guests become your guests
At check-in every guest gets a personal guest portal link. They chat with your AI concierge, request anything in one tap and track it to done. Now they talk to you, not the OTA, and can book their next stay in the same chat.
Guest portalA reason to come back direct
Post-stay feedback first, then a direct rebook offer while the stay is still fresh. Outbound calls and WhatsApp in your voice and on your rates.
Guest feedbackNew: the HeyKoala guest portal
The OTA sold the room. The stay is yours.
At check-in every guest gets a personal link, or scans the QR code in their room. No app, no login. From then on they deal with your hotel directly.
Chat with your AI concierge
Under your own agent name, in the guest's language. It already knows who the guest is and which room they are in, so it never asks.
One-tap requests
Housekeeping, room service, table bookings, luggage, maintenance and express checkout. Only the services you switch on are shown.
Sent, on it, done
Every request becomes a ticket for the right team, and the guest sees it move: sent, on it, done. They can ask where it is or mark it urgent.
Instant answers
Wi-Fi, breakfast hours, the pool, checkout time. Answered on the spot from your property information, with no ticket raised.
Talk instead of type
A call button opens a voice conversation with the same AI, right in the browser.
Allergy alerts
The first mention of an allergy or dietary need raises a high-priority alert for the kitchen.
Upsells that feel like service
The AI suggests one relevant experience, like a spa slot or a dinner, leading with what makes it special. Interest is logged for your team.
Book the next stay direct
Guests can check availability and book a room in the same chat. With direct booking switched on it confirms in real time; otherwise your team gets the booking request.
OTA commission calculator
What are OTAs costing you?
Move the sliders to your numbers. Then see what you keep when part of it comes direct.
Your property
Commission you pay OTAs
$186,624
a year, on $1,036,800 of OTA room revenue
You keep, booking 20% of it direct
$37,325
a year, before counting the repeat stays a direct guest brings
Your numbers, not ours. OTA commissions typically run 15 to 25%.
Works with what you have
No new booking engine required.
- Live availability and booking write-back with Oracle Opera, Mews, Cloudbeds, Apaleo and eZee
- Keep your phone number, website and channel manager
- Payment taken during the call, confirmation on WhatsApp
- 26+ languages on calls, WhatsApp and the guest portal chat
- Live in about 10 minutes for independent hotels
- Independent hotels can start with a free trial
Questions
How can a hotel increase direct bookings?
Answer every enquiry instantly, on the phone and WhatsApp, and book it on the spot; give every in-house guest, including OTA guests, a direct line to the hotel during the stay; and follow up after checkout with a reason to book direct next time. HeyKoala automates all three with voice and WhatsApp AI and an in-room guest portal.
How much commission do OTAs charge hotels?
OTA commissions typically run 15 to 25% of the room revenue on each booking, depending on the OTA, the market and the hotel's visibility programme. Use the calculator on this page to see what that adds up to for your property.
Do I need a new booking engine to get more direct bookings?
No. Most lost direct bookings are lost in conversations: calls that ring out, slow WhatsApp replies and guests nobody talks to after checkout. HeyKoala works with the PMS and website you already have. If you also want a commission-free booking engine, Kamra PMS includes one and connects to HeyKoala.
How does a guest portal help direct bookings?
Guests who booked through an OTA usually never deal with the hotel directly. The guest portal gives every checked-in guest a personal link to chat with the hotel, request services and see them done. That relationship is what brings them back direct, and they can check availability and book their next stay in the same chat.
How fast can we start?
Independent hotels go live in about 10 minutes and connect the PMS after. Enterprise groups typically take 3 to 5 weeks for the first property, then days for each one after.
Keep the commission. Keep the guest.
See HeyKoala book a call, open a guest portal and take a request, on your property, in 20 minutes.