Guides for hotels, in plain words
How the things that decide your bookings work, and how to check each one yourself: booking sites and what they charge, your prices against the hotels around you, reviews, your website, Google, AI assistants, and the companies and weddings that bring guests. Every figure comes with the source that says so, and no result is promised.
- Rate parityWhat rate parity is, and how to check it for your hotelWhat rate parity means, why booking sites end up cheaper than your own website, and how to check it yourself.Read more
- Replying to Google reviewsHow to reply to Google reviews of your hotel, good and badHow to reply to Google reviews of your hotel: where to do it on Search and Maps, what Google's own tips say, and what to say to a bad review, with an example.Read more
- AI recommendationsHow a hotel gets recommended by AI assistantsHow AI assistants choose which hotels to name, and what a hotel can do to be one of them.Read more
- Google MapsWhat decides your hotel's place on Google MapsWhat decides where a hotel appears for “hotels near me” on Google Maps, and what you can change.Read more
- Asking for reviewsHow to ask guests for reviews, within Google's rulesHow to ask every guest for a review, when to ask, and the one thing Google does not allow.Read more
- Guest questionsThe questions guests ask before they book, and where to answer themThe questions guests ask before they book, by kind of trip, and how to answer them on your own website.Read more
- Direct bookingsHow to get more direct bookings for your hotelHow to get more guests to book on your own website rather than a booking site, starting with the guests who already know your name.Read more
- CommissionWhat booking sites charge hotels in commissionWhat Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, MakeMyTrip and Airbnb charge a hotel, what raises it, and how to work out what a booking really costs.Read more
- Booking.com rankingHow to rank higher on Booking.comWhat Booking.com says decides where a hotel appears in its search, what you can change for nothing, and what paying more buys.Read more
- ChatGPTHow to get your hotel recommended by ChatGPTHow ChatGPT chooses the hotels it names, how to see what it says about your town, and what to change so that it names yours.Read more
- Google free listingsHow to get your hotel's own price on Google, freeHow a hotel gets its own website's price shown on Google free of charge, what it needs, and how to check that it appears.Read more
- Festive pricingHow to price your rooms for Diwali and New YearHow to price rooms for Diwali, Christmas and New Year: when to set prices, what to watch, and the rules that keep the nights full.Read more
- Booking.com reviewsHow to reply to guest reviews on Booking.comHow to reply to guest reviews on Booking.com: where to do it, Booking.com's rules for replies, and what a good reply says.Read more
- Hotel websiteHow to make your hotel's website turn visitors into guestsWhat makes a hotel website turn visitors into bookings: the price shown early, a page that opens fast on a phone, few steps and plain answers.Read more
- Checking your pricesHow to check your hotel's price on every booking siteHow to check what every booking site charges for your rooms, night by night, and tell a real undercut from a different offer.Read more
- Pricing against competitorsHow to price your rooms against your competitorsHow to choose the hotels you compare yourself with, read their prices as guests see them, and decide where your own price should sit.Read more
- Weekend and weekday pricesHow to price weekends and weekdays differentlyHow to find which nights of the week fill for your hotel, and give the busy nights and the quiet ones a price and rules of their own.Read more
- Companies and travel agentsHow to get bookings from companies and travel agentsHow to win bookings from companies, travel agents and tour operators: who to approach, what each needs from a hotel, and the offer and email that win them.Read more
- Weddings and eventsHow to get more wedding and event bookingsHow to win more weddings, conferences and events: where couples and planners look, what to put on your website, and how to answer an enquiry.Read more
- Google Business ProfileWhat to fill in on your hotel's Google Business ProfileWhat to fill in on your hotel's Google Business Profile, part by part, what Google keeps for itself, and what it doesn't allow a hotel to post.Read more
- Guest complaintsHow to find out what guests complain about mostHow to count what guests complain about across every review site, tell a one-off from a pattern, and decide what to fix first.Read more
- Booking sites on your nameWhy booking sites show above your hotel when guests search your nameWhy booking sites appear above your own website when guests search your hotel's name, what Google allows them to do, and how to put your website first.Read more
- Removing a Google reviewHow to get a fake or unfair Google review of your hotel taken downWhy a hotel can't delete a Google review, which reviews Google's rules don't allow, how to report one and appeal, and what to do when it stays.Read more
- Booking.com extranetThe Booking.com extranet: a guide for hotelsWhere to sign in to the Booking.com extranet, what each part of it is for, and every everyday job step by step: prices, closed dates, no-shows, messages, reviews, photos, deals and invoices.Read more
- Expedia Partner CentralExpedia Partner Central: a guide for hotelsWhere to sign in to Expedia Partner Central, what each part of it is for, and every everyday job step by step: rates, inventory, no-shows, messages, reviews, photos, promotions and invoices.Read more
- Agoda YCSAgoda YCS: a guide to Agoda's extranet for hotelsWhat Agoda's YCS extranet, now its Partner Portal, is, where to sign in, every everyday job in it step by step, and what Agoda says moves you up its search.Read more
- InGo-MMTInGo-MMT: the extranet for MakeMyTrip and Goibibo, a guide for hotelsWhat the InGo-MMT extranet is, where to sign in, how to list a property, and every everyday job for MakeMyTrip and Goibibo in MakeMyTrip's own steps.Read more
- Hotel marketing planHow to write a marketing plan for your hotel, on one pageHow to write a marketing plan for a small hotel on one page: your guests, where they find you, the jobs for each week, month and season, and how to tell what worked.Read more
- Digital marketing for hotelsDigital marketing for hotels: what to do first, and how to measure itDigital marketing for a small hotel, part by part: your Google listing, your own website, booking sites, Instagram, WhatsApp, email and AI assistants, with free tools to measure each.Read more
- Instagram for hotelsInstagram for hotels: a guide for small and independent hotelsHow a small hotel uses Instagram: a professional account, a profile that leads to booking, original reels made at the hotel, Instagram's rules on reach and partnerships, and its insights.Read more
- Emailing past guestsHow to email your past guests so they book with you directly next timeHow to bring past guests back to book with you directly by email: their permission as India's data protection law sets it out, what to send and when, Gmail's rules for senders, and what to count.Read more
- WhatsApp Business for hotelsWhatsApp Business for hotels: how to turn enquiries into direct bookingsHow a hotel takes enquiries and bookings on the free WhatsApp Business app: the profile, quick replies, greeting and away messages, labels, a catalogue of rooms, your link on Google and Instagram, and WhatsApp's rules.Read more
- Hotel promotion ideasHotel promotion ideas: what to offer, when, and where to show itPromotion ideas a small hotel can run without ads: festival and long-weekend packages, stays for the quiet months, groups, local partners and past guests, and where each may be shown.Read more
- Raising occupancyHow to increase your hotel's occupancy, night by nightHow to find which nights your hotel leaves empty and why, and the steps that fill each kind: quiet weekdays, the low season and the last few days.Read more
- SWOT analysisHow to do a SWOT analysis of your hotel, step by stepHow to do a SWOT analysis of your own hotel, step by step: what to read for each of the four boxes, and how to turn them into a short list of things to do.Read more
- Profit marginHotel profit margin: what goes into it, and how to work out yoursWhat goes into a hotel's profit margin, from room revenue to commission, staff, power and tax, and how to work out your own, month by month.Read more
- No-shows and late cancellationsHow to cut no-shows and late cancellations, booking site by booking siteEach booking site's own rules on no-shows, cancellation fees, deposits and prepayment, and the steps that leave fewer rooms empty at the last minute.Read more
- Upselling to guestsHow to upsell to hotel guests: before arrival, at check-in and during the stayWhat to offer guests before they arrive, at check-in and during the stay, how to set it up on the booking sites, and how to ask without pressing.Read more
- Budget and forecastHow to make a yearly budget and a rolling forecast for a small hotelHow a small hotel sets a yearly budget, month by month, and keeps a rolling forecast that is redone each month from the bookings already made.Read more
- Tripadvisor for hotel ownersHow to claim and manage your hotel's listing on TripadvisorHow to claim your hotel's Tripadvisor listing, get verified, and use the free Management Center: details, photos, replies, your team and review stickers.Read more
- Tripadvisor rankingHow to improve your hotel's ranking on TripadvisorWhat Tripadvisor says decides a hotel's Popularity Ranking, what doesn't count, and how to collect more recent reviews within Tripadvisor's rules.Read more
- Booking.com review scoreHow your Booking.com review score is counted, and how to raise itHow Booking.com works out your review score, which reviews count and for how long, and what Booking.com itself says raises it.Read more
- MakeMyTrip and Goibibo reviewsHow to reply to guest reviews on MakeMyTrip and GoibiboHow to read and reply to guest reviews on MakeMyTrip and Goibibo in the InGo-MMT extranet, ask in-stay guests for a review, and when a review can be removed.Read more
- Hotel SEOHotel SEO: how a hotel's website shows up on Google, from Google's own guidanceHow a hotel's own website shows up on Google, from Google's own documentation: being found, titles, descriptions, photos, structured data, speed and the Business Profile.Read more
- Hotel photosHotel photos that sell rooms: what each booking site and Google ask forWhat Booking.com, MakeMyTrip, Agoda, Expedia, Google and Tripadvisor ask for in a hotel's photos, how to upload them on each, and what guests look for.Read more
- Hotel business planHow to write a hotel business plan, part by partWhat to put in a business plan for a hotel, guest house or homestay in India, part by part, with the free government sources for the figures a lender asks about.Read more
- Starting a hotel businessHow to start a hotel business in IndiaHow to start a hotel business in India, in order: the kind of place, the market, the business, the building and its approvals, licences, money, and the first guests.Read more
- Starting a homestayHow to start a homestay business in IndiaHow to start a homestay business in India: what counts as a homestay, your state's rules, getting the rooms ready, registering, food, GST, foreign guests and your first bookings.Read more
- Homestay registrationHow to register a homestay in IndiaHow to register a homestay in India: your state's scheme or the Ministry of Tourism's, NIDHI, the documents, fees and timelines, with Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa step by step.Read more
- Star classificationHow to get your hotel star classified by the Ministry of TourismHow a hotel gets its star rating from the Ministry of Tourism: who can apply, what the inspectors check, the documents, fees and timelines, and how to keep it.Read more
- Licences to open a hotelThe licences and registrations to open a hotel in IndiaThe registrations and licences to open a hotel or homestay in India: GST, FSSAI, fire safety, the trade licence, police, pollution control and tourism, as the official pages describe them.Read more
- Listing on Booking.comHow to list your hotel on Booking.com, from sign-up to first bookingHow to list a hotel, guest house or homestay in India on Booking.com, from the free sign-up to its first booking: what to have ready, every step, Booking.com's checks, commission, tax and the first week.Read more
- Listing on MakeMyTrip and GoibiboHow to list your hotel on MakeMyTrip and Goibibo, from sign-up to first bookingHow to list a hotel, homestay or villa on MakeMyTrip and Goibibo with one free sign-up: the documents, PAN, GST and bank details, every step, MakeMyTrip's checks, payments and the first week.Read more
- Listing on AgodaHow to list your hotel on Agoda, from sign-up to first bookingHow to list a hotel, homestay or villa in India on Agoda, from the sign-up to its first booking: Agoda's three property types, what to have ready, every step, the contract and checks, payouts and the first week.Read more
- Listing on AirbnbHow to list your hotel, boutique hotel or homestay on AirbnbHow a hotel, boutique hotel or homestay in India lists on Airbnb, from a free account to its first guest: Airbnb's standards for hotels, every step, the identity check, the host fee, GST, TDS, payouts and the first week.Read more
- Listing on ExpediaHow to list your hotel on Expedia and Hotels.com, from sign-up to first bookingHow to list a hotel in India on Expedia, Hotels.com and Expedia Group's other sites, from the free sign-up to its first booking: what to have ready, every step, the contract, the payment models and the first week.Read more
- Listing on CleartripHow to list your hotel on Cleartrip, from first contact to first bookingHow a hotel or homestay in India gets listed on Cleartrip, which has no public sign-up for hotels: how accounts open, what Cleartrip's extranet asks for, its checks, commission and payments, promotions and the first week.Read more
How they are written
Plain, checkable, and no invented numbers
- Each guide gives the answer first, then explains how the thing works and how to check it yourself, by hand, without OneHorizyn.
- A figure is given only with the source that says so, named and linked under it, and none promises a result. Where a rule belongs to someone else, such as Google's on reviews, it is named as theirs.
- Only at the end does a guide say where OneHorizyn does the same check for you, with a link to the page that explains it.
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