Vacation Rental Website Design for Melbourne Properties

You own a holiday house in Lorne. Right now you list it on Airbnb and Stayz. They take 15-20% of every booking. You've thought about building your own website but assumed nobody would book direct.

Wrong. People will book direct — if you make it easy and worth it.

Why vacation rental owners stay stuck on Airbnb

Airbnb and Stayz give you exposure. That's their value. But the 15-20% commission adds up fast. A week-long booking at $2,000 costs you $300-400 in fees. Do that 20 weeks a year and you're paying $6,000-8,000 to platforms.

A website costs less and pays for itself in 2-3 bookings.

Common reasons rental owners don't go direct:

• "Nobody will find my website" — SEO and Google Ads solve this
• "Booking systems are expensive" — not anymore, modern platforms are $30-50/month
• "I need Airbnb for reviews" — you can collect your own reviews and display them
• "Building a website is hard" — it's easier than you think

The vacation rental owners making serious money run their own websites alongside OTAs. They capture direct bookings (higher margin) and use Airbnb as a backup for filling gaps.

What a vacation rental website needs

Vacation rental websites should showcase your property and make booking seamless. Treat it like a mini hotel site.

Property showcase with professional photos. Hero images of the exterior, living areas, bedrooms, kitchen, outdoor spaces. Invest in proper photography. Dark phone photos don't sell $250/night rentals. Bright, styled shots do.

Full property details clearly listed. How many bedrooms? How many bathrooms? Bed configuration (1 king, 2 queens, 1 single?). Sleeps how many? Pet-friendly? WiFi? Netflix? Parking? Heating/cooling? List everything. Reduce enquiry friction.

Pricing calendar with availability. Real-time availability. Nightly rates visible. Cleaning fees, bond, minimum stay — all upfront. Don't make guests email for pricing. Show it.

Online booking with instant confirmation. Integrated calendar synced with Airbnb (so you don't double-book). Secure payment processing. Instant booking confirmation. Make it as easy as Airbnb — then offer 10% off for direct bookings to sweeten the deal.

Location and nearby attractions. Beach 200m walk. Town centre 5-minute drive. Best local restaurants. Wineries within 20km. Hiking trails nearby. You're selling the destination as much as the property.

Guest reviews and testimonials. Collect reviews from past guests (even Airbnb guests — ask them to leave a Google review). Display testimonials prominently. Social proof drives bookings.

SEO for vacation rentals

Vacation rental searches are location-specific. "Holiday house Lorne," "Mornington Peninsula beach house," "Phillip Island accommodation." Target those searches and you'll get direct bookings.

Vacation rental SEO requires:

• Location-specific pages (Holiday House Lorne, Mornington Beach House)
• Feature-based content (pet-friendly holiday house Victoria, beachfront rental Torquay)
• Blog content for area guides ("Things to do in Lorne," "Best beaches Mornington Peninsula")
• Google Business Profile (yes, even for vacation rentals — helps local search)
• High-quality property photos (Google ranks visual content higher)

We built a site for a holiday house in Torquay. Within four months they were ranking first page for "holiday house Torquay," "Torquay accommodation beachfront," "surf coast holiday rental." 40% of bookings now come direct. Less Airbnb commission, higher profit margin.

How we build vacation rental websites

Vacation rental websites need to look appealing and handle bookings efficiently. We build them with Next.js — fast, secure, and integrates with rental booking platforms.

What's included:

• Booking system integration (Lodgify, BookingSync, iGMS, or similar)
• Property showcase with photo galleries for each room and outdoor areas
• Amenities and features page (bedrooms, bathrooms, facilities, inclusions)
• Pricing calendar with real-time availability
• Location and things to do page (nearby attractions, beaches, restaurants)
• Guest reviews section or Google reviews widget
• House rules and policies page (check-in, check-out, cancellation)
• Calendar sync with Airbnb/Stayz (prevents double-bookings)
• Google Business Profile setup and optimisation
• Mobile-responsive design (most rental searches are mobile)
• Hosting and support for the first year

Starter package ($1,995) suits single-property owners. Professional package ($4,995) includes advanced booking features, multiple property support (if you own more than one), and comprehensive regional SEO.

If you're paying Airbnb $6,000-10,000 per year in commissions, build your own website. Drive direct bookings with SEO and a small Google Ads budget. Keep the margin. Own the customer relationship.