RentalBeam
How-To Guide
7 min read
Updated March 2026

How to accept direct bookings from your vacation rental website

This guide walks you through adding a direct booking engine to your website, connecting real-time availability, and turning website visitors into reservation requests without relying only on OTA commissions. It also covers the optional pricing, seasonal, rules, and guest-intake features that make a booking form more useful than a generic contact form.

Why direct bookings matter

OTAs provide reach, but commissions can reduce margins. A direct booking path on your website gives you a controlled acquisition channel, stronger guest relationships, and better long-term profitability.

  • Own your guest relationship from first click
  • Capture inquiries from organic website traffic
  • Reduce dependency on commission-heavy channels
  • Keep availability synced with existing OTA calendars
  • Maintain full branding and website experience

What you need first

  • A RentalBeam account and active property calendar
  • Connected iCal source(s) from Airbnb/VRBO/Booking.com
  • Booking widget enabled in your plan
  • Access to your website editor

Launch with one property first

Start with your highest-converting listing, validate guest flow and response time, then roll out to your full portfolio.

Setup steps

  1. 1

    Connect and validate availability

    1. Open your RentalBeam dashboard
    2. Select the target property calendar
    3. Confirm iCal feeds are connected and syncing
    4. Check that blocked dates display correctly

    Availability comes first

    Your booking engine should only be published after synced availability is verified to avoid guest friction.
  2. 2

    Configure booking and pricing settings

    1. Enable booking widget for the property
    2. Set base nightly rate or leave pricing disabled if you only want requests
    3. Add seasonal pricing overrides, cleaning fees, discounts, and coupon codes
    4. Configure custom fields, guest counts, and booking rules such as prep time or same-day cutoff
    5. Set contact email for request notifications
    6. Save and preview total calculations

    Learn more on the vacation rental booking widget page.

  3. 3

    Embed the booking engine on your website

    Copy your booking embed code from widget settings and paste it into your website page. For Custom HTML installs, the script snippet is now the default recommendation.

    html
    <script src="https://rentalbeam.com/api/rentalbeam-booking-form.js" async></script>
<div class="rentalbeam-booking-form" data-calendar-id="your-booking-widget-id" style="width: 100%; max-width: 920px; margin: 0 auto;"></div>

    Website builder install steps

    Pick your builder to see the safest place to paste the booking widget and whether Script or Iframe is the better choice.

    WordPress

    Best fit when you can add a Custom HTML block or plugin.

    Recommended: Script

    WordPress usually allows the booking form script directly, so you can keep the best loading and mobile behavior.

    Use the Script tab for this builder.

    1. Open the page with your booking CTA
    2. Insert a Custom HTML block where the booking form should appear
    3. Paste the booking widget embed code
    4. Update the page and submit a live test inquiry

    Before you publish

    • Place the booking form directly below the availability calendar or next to your primary booking copy so the page reads as one clear booking flow.
    • If your theme adds very tight column widths, give the booking form section its own full-width row so the fields do not feel cramped.
    • Always submit one live test inquiry after publishing so you can confirm the widget renders correctly and the notification email arrives.
    Read the booking widget guideWordPress Custom HTML block docs
  4. 4

    Run a real end-to-end test

What Pro actually includes

Optional pricing display

Show nightly pricing if you want guests to see an estimated total, or keep the form request-only with no pricing shown.

Seasonal pricing and minimum stays

Override rates, minimum stay, and discounts for holidays, peak season, shoulder season, or special events.

Fees, discounts, and coupon codes

Configure cleaning, pet, and service fees, plus early-bird, last-minute, and length-of-stay discounts with coupon controls.

Custom guest intake

Collect extra information with custom fields, guest-count settings, and booking rules before you reply to the guest.

Important booking workflow detail

RentalBeam does not process guest payments. The booking form collects a request, availability stays synced, and you confirm the stay outside the platform.

Conversion best practices

  • Keep one primary CTA: focus attention on booking action, not too many competing buttons.
  • Use trust context near form: mention response time, secure handling, and clear policy links.
  • Prioritize mobile readability: larger tap targets, concise labels, and short paragraphs improve completion rates.
  • Respond quickly: the first host reply strongly influences conversion outcome.

Troubleshooting

Booking form not visible

Unavailable dates still selectable

Request emails not received

Related Guides

How to show your Airbnb calendar on your websiteHow to show availability on your vacation rental websiteWhat is iCal and how does it work for vacation rentals?

Direct Booking Questions

Direct booking means guests contact or request to reserve through your own website instead of only through OTAs like Airbnb and VRBO.

No. You can keep your OTA listings active and add direct booking as an additional channel.

RentalBeam uses synced iCal availability sources. If dates are blocked on connected channels, they are unavailable in your direct booking form.

Yes. Pro supports optional pricing display, seasonal pricing overrides, configurable fees, discount rules, coupon codes, guest limits, and booking rules. RentalBeam does not process guest payments - guests submit a request and you confirm outside the platform.

No. The booking form widget is a Pro feature. Free and Plus focus on availability calendar sync, while Pro adds direct booking requests.

Yes. On Plus and Pro, you can manually close dates or date ranges, and the booking form uses the same synchronized availability state as the calendar widget.

Requests appear in your RentalBeam dashboard and trigger an instant notification email. The email includes one-click Confirm and Decline links so you can act without opening the dashboard.

Yes. Pro supports custom booking-form fields such as text, textarea, email, phone, number, select, checkbox, and date inputs, plus adults, children, and pet counts with per-category limits.

Yes. The booking engine supports both script and iframe embeds, so you can use the best option for the builder or CMS you publish on.

Start accepting direct bookings

Launch your booking widget and collect commission-free reservation requests from your own website.

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