News and information about the UK 'Staycation' tourist industry.
Airbnb’s machine-learning system looks at hundreds of signals and can block or redirect higher-risk entire-home bookings, especially around New Year’s Eve. It is a pre-booking filter, not monitoring inside the house. Hosts still set the rules. Read more
A viral chart said 65 per cent of Airbnb listings display as 5.0. Airbnb says hosts cannot delete reviews, and that weak listings come off. Guests say theirs vanished anyway. The 4.8 you are protecting does not sort your house from the one next door. Read more
The reason a direct booking feels risky is the missing star rating. Those stars do not sort guests. The passport check is a £1.25 Stripe step in the account you already need for the card, and the scan stays with Stripe. Read more
A five-star guest score feels like the reason to stay on the platform. It is the normal score. The system punishes a blunt review, so the number cannot tell you who to let in. A direct booking can check the passport instead. Read more
Lisa Nandy told the Commons the scheme will be up and running in full by March 2027. It is not live now. Claims that it launched this year, or in October 2026, are wrong. Read more
Fees have shifted onto hosts, Strict cancellation is gone for most listings, Booking.com has loosened its pricing leash in Europe, and Wales is about to register every overnight let. Read more
Which? found guests arriving at The Liberty Bounds after a Somerset owner's pages were phished. Staff turned away up to 20 people a day. The login you use to manage the listing is the asset they want. Read more
A written answer confirms a review of short-term let tax treatment. The Telegraph says the Chancellor is looking at treating holiday lets as second homes. Nothing is law until the Budget. The 140/70 test still decides the bill this week. Read more
Criminals take over a host or hotel's Booking.com account, then message the guest with real dates and names asking them to 'verify' a card. Action Fraud logged 532 UK reports and £370,000 lost. Here is how it works, and why a booking on your own site does not have that middleman login. Read more
Scotland is already charging, Wales starts next April, and England only announced the power on 10 September. The host is the taxpayer. You can swallow the cost. You cannot skip the return. Read more
The scheme is confirmed in law and still not in force. Platforms will want a number. Fire officers and insurers already want the same six documents. Assemble them while engineers still have diary space. Read more
A camera pointed at a bed in Madrid, lookalike booking sites adding markups of up to 85 per cent, a guest who would not leave, and review threats used as leverage. None of it is a typical week. The useful part is the distance between the two sides of the booking. Read more
The last split-fee hosts move onto Airbnb's 15.5 per cent cut, damage photos now have to be original files, house rules need platform approval, and Wales starts registering visitor stays. England's register still has no date. Read more
Clips of wrecked cottages do the rounds in host chats. The useful part is not the body count. It is the pattern: Instant Book, unmatched IDs, events dressed up as family stays, and protection that is not buildings insurance. Read more
UK owners contract with Booking.com B.V. in Amsterdam. Here is the good, the bad and the bits that cost money: commission, Genius, parity, overbookings, guest data and who pays when something goes wrong. Read more
UK hosts do not sit on the US contract. Here is the good, the bad and the bits that cost money: fees, cancellations, off-platform rules, AirCover and who you are really contracting with. Read more
Guests know there is a booking fee. They often miss that it goes to a foreign company making huge profits, offering little when something goes wrong, and paying little UK tax on British stays. Read more
Airbnb is testing cheaper host fees if you share your own link. The stay still books on Airbnb, the off-platform rules have not changed, and the pilot is not a confirmed UK programme. Read more
Guests already pay a cleaning fee, then some hosts add chore lists, extra invoices and review pressure. This article looks at what Airbnb itself called unreasonable, the UK evidence on both sides, and what a fair checkout actually looks like. Read more
Discover practical, zero-cost marketing strategies for local cafes, restaurants, pubs and hotels to capitalise on the theme park boom. Free tips to attract visitors, boost trade and grow your hospitality business now. Read more
Platforms take 15% from holiday home hosts, raising prices for renters. Savvy owners bypass fees with their own sites and Google Maps for direct, cheaper bookings. Read more
Over the past twelve months, Booking.com has become one of the favourite playgrounds for scammers targeting British holidaymakers. Action Fraud recorded hundreds of reports, Which? tracked thousands of pounds in losses. Read more
The quirky trend of hotels skipping bathroom doors, leaving guests in the UK and Europe feeling exposed. Read more
