Booking.com commissions: the real cost for your hotel, campsite or holiday rental

A booking comes in. Full rate, an enthusiastic guest, a filling calendar. Then the invoice arrives. And the awkward question: how much do you really keep?

For most hoteliers, campsite managers and holiday rental owners, Booking.com and other platform commissions are the biggest sales cost… and the least transparent. A French National Assembly information report on online booking platforms estimates that around 35% of hotel business volume goes through OTAs, for around 7% of the sector's turnover, with an average commission of around 20% (Assemblée nationale).

The problem isn't the commission itself. The problem is not knowing what it costs you, or how many nights it pays for. Let's put the figures on the table.

In brief

• Booking.com publishes no universal rate. Only the percentage in your partner contract applies.

• The commission is calculated on nights × room price × number of rooms, plus the extras and supplements charged with the booking.

• The only rates published in black and white in France: 15.5% excl. VAT at Airbnb (host fees only) and 8% excl. VAT at Abritel/Vrbo (5% + 3%).

• The ranges for Booking.com, Expedia, Gîtes de France and Logis circulate on the market but are not official: they are negotiated contract by contract.

• A rate of 18% on a €310 stay = €55.80. Often more than a third of your gross margin on the booking.

• Breaking the dependence means going direct: website, rates, guest relationship, instant answers.

How the OTA commission model works

The principle is simple: the platform charges nothing upfront. It's paid on results, taking a percentage of each confirmed booking.

In return, it brings three things: traffic, a booking engine and a certain reassurance for the traveller. That explains its strength. And it explains your dependence.

The weight of the channel is massive. In 2025, 47% of overnight stays in France were in commercial accommodation - hotels, campsites, residences, professional furnished rentals - according to Atout France. The rest, mostly non-commercial accommodation, is outside the professional hospitality market. In other words: the battle for visibility is fought over an already reduced share of overnight stays.

Two models coexist:

• The commission model, dominant at Booking.com and Expedia: the OTA invoices the property after the stay.

• The host service fee model, at Airbnb and Abritel/Vrbo: the platform takes its share from the host's payout, once the booking is confirmed.

In both cases, the right reflex is the same: check your rate, what it's calculated on and when it's invoiced.

How Booking.com calculates its commission

The formula

Booking.com applies an agreed percentage, the one in your partner contract. This rate isn't universal: it can vary by country, type of property and the terms signed.

The calculation formula, on the other hand, is documented by Booking.com:

Commission = (nights stayed × room price × number of rooms) + extras and supplements added to the booking, all multiplied by the contract percentage.

Remember the structure: it's the total value of the booking that serves as the base, not just the basic night.

What is included in the calculation base

• The number of nights stayed.

• The room price applied for the period.

• The number of rooms or pitches booked.

• The additional fees added at the time of booking: cleaning fees, services, supplements, options charged to the guest.

A direct and often overlooked consequence: the more extras you sell through the OTA, the higher the commission. A breakfast sold for €15 on the platform doesn't earn you €15: it earns you €15 minus the commission. Sold direct, it earns €15.

When is the commission invoiced?

Booking.com invoices the commission on completed stays, monthly (Booking.com Partner Help). Bookings that don't go ahead are not commissioned.

One point to watch: the general terms for properties are available in the partner area (Booking.com). They are your contractual reference, not the figures circulating on forums.

Don't confuse it with the affiliate programme

A lot of confusion comes from this. The 25 to 40% rates sometimes quoted concern the Booking.com affiliate programme, aimed at referrers who are paid on the bookings they generate (Booking.com Affiliates). That's not what a hotel pays. Don't mix the two up.

Booking.com vs other OTA commissions: rates observed on the market

Read this before looking at the table

Let's be rigorous. No platform publishes a single national rate card, least of all Booking.com. Only Airbnb and Abritel/Vrbo show an official rate in their help centre. All the other figures are ranges observed on the market, unofficial, to be checked against your own contract.

Two lessons:

1. Your contracts, not rumours. The rate that applies to you is your commercial partner's (Expedia Partner Central for Expedia, your Partner Centre for Booking.com, your departmental office for networks such as Gîtes de France).

2. A gap of a few points changes everything. Between 15% and 20%, that's 5 points of turnover shifting - on tens of thousands of euros, the gap becomes a salary.

The real cost of a commission: a worked example

Let's take a hotel. A room at €120 a night, booked for 2 nights by one guest, with breakfast (2 × €15) and a €40 cleaning fee.

Commission base: €240 (nights) + €30 (breakfast) + €40 (cleaning) = €310.

Now look at the margin, not the turnover. If this stay generates €150 of gross margin (a textbook assumption), a commission of €55.80 eats up 37% of it. The guest is happy; your profit and loss account much less so.

Campsite version: a pitch at €42 a night, 7 nights, plus €30 of supplements. Base = €324. At 18%, the commission comes to €58.32 - the equivalent of giving away one and a half pitches every week.

And what about over the year? A hundred bookings at €55 of commission is €5,500 that funds neither your renovations, your seasonality nor your staff.

Hidden costs beyond the commission

The commission is only the tip of the iceberg. What if your margin was melting elsewhere too?

• Paid visibility. Promotion and preferred ranking programmes exist. Their price is paid in higher commission or a subscription, depending on the programme's terms and your contract.

• Dependent ranking. Rating, response rate, availability, compliance: your listing's rank depends on criteria the platform sets. You don't control the rules of the game.

• Residual rate parity. Since France's 2015 Macron law, rate parity clauses no longer bind hotels in France: you can display a lower rate on your own website. You still need a website able to offer it.

• Guest data left outside the door. Name, email, preferences, stay history: the OTA keeps them. You welcome a guest without knowing who they are.

• The cost of managing the channel. Answering messages, handling special requests, adjusting availability: that's reception time, every day, rarely measured.

• The scissor effect. Falling occupancy + rising costs + a commission that stays stable as a percentage: the channel's cost rises at the worst moment.

How to reduce your dependence on OTAs

Reducing dependence doesn't mean leaving the platforms. It means giving more weight to direct bookings.

Focus on direct bookings

The commission rate on a direct booking is 0%. It's your most profitable lever, and it's free. A realistic goal: turn the guests you've already won - those who found you via an OTA or word of mouth - into direct bookers for the following season.

Have a website that converts

A showcase website that doesn't take bookings is a brochure. You need a booking engine, up-to-date rates, real-time availability and instant answers to questions. A visitor who doesn't get an answer within seconds goes back to the platform - where the commission is waiting for you.

Build a clear pricing strategy

• A direct rate at least as attractive as the rate shown on OTAs, without damaging your perceived value.

• Exclusive perks for direct bookings: free breakfast, upgrade, late check-out, flexible cancellation.

• Showcasing your extras (pool, spa, massages, restaurant, hikes, boat trips, bike hire), bookable online.

Look after the guest relationship

Direct bookings are won after the stay as much as before. A thank-you email, a return offer, a review requested at the right time: every guest won back directly is a commission that won't be taken.

Automation: winning direct bookings without hiring

The number one obstacle remains: time. Answering the same question twenty times a day, in three languages, at 11 pm on a Sunday in July. Nobody can keep that up.

That's where an AI chatbot designed for hotels and campsites changes the game. Built only into your property's website, it answers visitors' questions 24/7 - availability, rates, access, pets, extra services - in more than 80 languages, and naturally steers them towards a direct booking. It's not a bot on WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger: the channel being protected is yours, the one where a booking costs no commission.

The result: the visitor gets their answer directly, you win the booking without commission, and your reception focuses on welcoming guests in person. Muvia Solutions deploys this kind of solution for hotels, campsites and holiday rentals, with a simple promise: automate 80% of repetitive guest requests.

What if your website sold as well as your OTA listing - without commission? Discover how effective an automated welcome on your own channel can be.

FAQ

Does Booking.com take a fixed percentage?

No. Booking.com publishes no universal rate. The percentage applied is the one in your partner contract, and it can vary by country, type of property and negotiated terms. The reflex: open your contract or your Partner Centre before comparing anything.

Is the commission calculated on extras sold to the guest?

Yes. The base includes the value of the booking and additional fees added at the time of booking: cleaning, services, supplements. Selling your extras directly rather than through the platform therefore mechanically improves your margin per guest.

When is the Booking.com commission invoiced?

On completed stays, invoiced monthly. Requests that don't go ahead generate no commission.

Can you negotiate your Booking.com commission rate?

Yes, since it's a contract. The usual levers: the number of rooms or pitches, the quality of your listing, your availability and response rates, the type of property and visibility commitments. Every point gained is repeated across all your bookings for the year.

How can you reduce your dependence on OTAs in practice?

By developing three assets nobody can take a cut of: a website that takes bookings, a guest email list, and instant answers to direct enquiries. Add a pricing strategy that makes direct booking more attractive, and the OTA share falls season after season.

About the rates quoted

Commission rates are contractual: they depend on each property, each platform and each contract, and change over time. The ranges presented here are market observations, not official rates, except for the rates published in the Airbnb and Abritel/Vrbo help centres. Always check the terms that apply to your property before making a pricing decision.

Useful sources

• Booking.com - Understanding our commission (Partner Help)

• Booking.com - General terms for accommodation providers

• Booking.com - Affiliate programme: commissions and payments

• Airbnb - Host service fees

• Abritel - Service fees

• Expedia Partner Central

• French National Assembly - Information report on online booking platforms

• Atout France - The weight of tourism in the French economy