A Website for Short-Term Rental Apartments: Direct Bookings, No Commission

For anyone renting out apartments short-term, the most expensive thing isn't the cleaning, nor the utilities — it's the commission that leaves, month after month, for Booking and Airbnb from bookings you could have taken directly. The bitterest case: the guest who has already stayed with you, had a great time and wants to come back. They look for you on Google, don't find you, land on Booking again — and you pay commission a second time for a client you had already won.

A website for short-term rental apartments exists for exactly this: to turn the guests you earn through hard work — spotless cleaning, hassle-free check-in, good reviews — into direct bookings you no longer share with anyone.

We are the MPO Web Studio team from the Cluj / Cluj-Napoca area and we build websites for local businesses across Romania, 100% remotely. Below we show you, concretely, what a short-term rental website that actually brings direct bookings looks like — not just one built "to tick a box".

Why you need a website, not just listings on Booking and Airbnb

The platforms are a good starting channel: they bring you guests you would never have reached otherwise. The problems start when they become your only channel.

• The guest isn't yours, they're the platform's. The contact details stay with them, messages go through their system, and on their next holiday "your" client gets offers from your competitors, in the same app.
• The rules change overnight. Your position in the list, cancellation policies, display conditions — all decided elsewhere, while you just adapt.
• Your listing looks like all the others. Same fields, same photo grid. There's nowhere to tell the story of your apartment or show why your place is different.
• You pay commission on loyalty too. The guest coming back for the third time through Booking costs you just as much as a completely new one.

The website doesn't replace the platforms — it complements them. Booking remains the shop window for strangers who don't know you; the website becomes the place where people who already know you, or search for you by name, end up.

WhatsApp booking: the piece that puts the money back in your pocket

For short-term rental apartments, you don't need a complicated online payment system to take direct bookings. You need a WhatsApp button that works.

Concretely: the guest lands on the site, looks at the photos, checks the rules, taps "Book on WhatsApp" — and a pre-written message with the stay dates arrives on your phone. You confirm in two minutes, wherever you are. No account, no long forms, no commission.

• Zero commission — everything you earn from a direct booking stays with you
• The fast reply wins the booking — someone looking for accommodation usually writes to several places at once; the first to answer gets the guest
• The card in the apartment closes the loop — a card saying "Next time book direct, it's cheaper" next to the keys turns the Booking guest into a direct client on their second visit

If you have several apartments, a calendar synced between the platforms and your site saves you from the nightmare of double bookings — we set that up too.

What a short-term rental website that convinces looks like

A good short-term rental website doesn't need ten pages. It needs the right things, in the order someone deciding where to sleep looks for them:

• The photo gallery, first — the decision is made from photos, in seconds. Natural light, the bed made, a clean bathroom, the view from the window. Rushed phone photos cost you bookings every single week.
• The exact location — a map, the distance to the centre, parking. Someone coming to town for a concert or a clinic appointment picks the area first, then the apartment.
• The price per night, displayed — whoever can't find the price leaves for Booking, where they'll definitely find it.
• The house rules, in black and white — check-in and check-out times, smoking, pets, parties. Clear rules don't scare off good guests; they filter out the problem ones and spare you the 11 p.m. arguments.
• Real reviews — your best opinions from the platforms and from Google reviews, brought onto the site, where they work for you.
• The WhatsApp button on every screen — visible on mobile too, where almost everything happens.

The rule we work by is simple: any element standing between the guest and a booking message has to go.

How much a website for short-term rental apartments costs

For a single apartment, a well-made landing page is usually enough. From two or three apartments up, a presentation site with a separate page for each unit pays for itself fast — practically from a handful of direct bookings that would otherwise have gone through the platform. We've written at length about how much a website costs, but in short:

One thing you won't hear from us: "we'll get you to #1 on Google". Nobody serious can promise that. What we can promise is a website that turns guests you've already won into direct bookings — and that works for you at 2 a.m. too, when someone is looking for a place for the weekend.

Want to see what your apartments' website would look like?

We'll build you a free demo website, with your photos and details, no strings attached. If you like it, we move forward; if not, you're left with an honest opinion about how you look online. Write to us on WhatsApp at wa.me/40750257140 and tell us how many apartments you have — we'll take care of the rest.