What booking platforms actually cost you
Airbnb charges 15.5% before tax in service fees, around 18.6% including tax, on the rental amount, since its commission was revised in December 2025. Booking.com sits around 16% before tax, roughly 19% including tax, once commission and payment-processing fees are combined (documented 2025 earnings statement, published August 2026). On a €500 booking, that's between €75 and €95 gone before you've even welcomed the guest.
I'm not telling you to stop using these platforms — they bring visibility you wouldn't otherwise have. But every booking you get directly, through your own site, is one less commission and a direct relationship with your guest, with no middleman between you.
Why the Loire Valley is particularly well-suited to direct booking
A gîte or B&B between Beaugency, Meung-sur-Loire and Chambord has two advantages many destinations don't: châteaux that draw a loyal, returning audience, and a cycling route that generates a steady flow of visitors looking for somewhere to sleep, sometimes at the last minute. The Château de Chambord welcomed 1.22 million visitors in 2025, a record for the fourth year running (Chambord, 2025 attendance press release, January 2026). Some of that crowd is looking for accommodation nearby.
If that visitor lands on your Booking or Airbnb listing, they know nothing about you beyond the photos and reviews. If they land on your own website — with your story, your local recommendations, your live availability — you're back in control of the conversation.
What a website lets you do that platforms don't
Avoid the commission on repeat bookings
A satisfied guest who wants to come back the following year has no reason to go through a platform and pay a commission a second time — if they can find you directly and book with you. That matters especially for the loyal, repeat audience drawn to the Loire Valley châteaux.
Tell the story a standardized listing can't
Platforms force everyone into the same format. A website lets you show what makes your gîte different: the view over the Loire, being a short ride from Chambord, breakfast made with local produce, the welcome you give your guests. That's often what separates two listings that look identical on Booking.
Show up in direct searches
Some visitors search directly for "gîte near Chambord" or "B&B Beaugency" on Google instead of going through a platform. Without a site, you don't exist in those results — only platforms and tourism directories show up, not you.
How I approach this kind of project
I'm not suggesting you replace your Airbnb or Booking listings — they still bring visibility. I'm suggesting a website that complements them: a page that belongs to you, capturing direct bookings and the guests who already know you, with:
- A clear availability calendar, so a visitor knows right away whether they can book
- A direct contact form, without going through a platform's messaging system
- A presentation that looks like you, not a template identical to thousands of other listings
What I actually offer:
- Website creation — a site built for direct bookings, easy to update
- Local SEO — visibility on "gîte" or "B&B" searches in Beaugency, Meung-sur-Loire, Mer or around Chambord
Conclusion: taking back part of your bookings
A website doesn't replace Airbnb or Booking overnight — and that's not the goal. The goal is for every guest who already knows you, who wants to come back, or who found you through word of mouth, to be able to book directly with you instead of unknowingly paying a commission that could have stayed in your pocket.
If you run a gîte or B&B in the Loire Valley, I'd like to talk about what would make sense for your business.
Let's talk about your project
Book a callSee the dedicated Loire Valley page
NexIT — Camille Beaucher, web agency based in Le Mans, traveling by appointment across the Loire Valley.