A vacation rental website has one job: turn a visitor who likes your photos into a guest who books. The best ones do it with a date search on the very first screen, one clear page for each property, and a booking path that is just as obvious on a phone as on a laptop.
Below are eight real vacation rental website examples, from a fly-fishing lodge in Tennessee to a villa on the French Riviera, each shown as it looks today on a desktop screen and on a phone. In the UK, the same sites go by holiday let, holiday cottage or holiday home websites, and the same rules apply.
Vacation rental website design: what the best sites have in common
Put side by side, the eight sites below keep doing the same seven things.
- A date search on the first screen. Six of the eight put an arrival date, a departure date and a guest count on or right under the opening photo: Tailwaters Lodge, The Shippen, Inaterra Homes, Villa Arty Riviera, Villa Bellerose and Location Normandie. A visitor who already knows when to travel never has to hunt for the booking button. On a phone, three of them fold the fields behind a single button so the photo stays in view.
- One page per property, with the facts that decide. Guests, bedrooms, bathrooms, amenities, house rules. Tailwaters lists guests, beds and amenities for every stay in its results, and Olympus Villas gives each of its villas icons for beds, guests and bathrooms. Google’s vacation rental guidelines make a handy benchmark even if you are not in its program: at least eight photos, including a bedroom, a bathroom and a common area, and the maximum number of guests.
- Conditions stated before the booking starts. Villa Arty Riviera’s rates page spells out the minimum stay, the age limit for children, the no-pets rule and the end-of-stay cleaning fee. A question answered on the page is a question that never reaches your inbox, and there are no surprises at checkout.
- A sense of place. People rent a destination as much as a house. The Shippen gives drive times to Shrewsbury and Ludlow, Inaterra lists surf lessons, hikes and waterfalls near its beach, Tailwaters links to river-temperature gauges, and Villa Bellerose has a page on the Opal Coast. That text is also what gives Google something specific to your area to rank.
- Availability you can see at a glance. The Shippen has an Availability page with a four-month calendar. Sites with several properties, like Tailwaters and Inaterra, show availability through search results instead. Either way, the guest sees what is free without sending a message.
- The languages your guests speak. Three of the eight sites are English only; Location Normandie is in five languages. If you add languages, give each one its own address and link the versions with hreflang, as Google explains in its guide to localized versions.
- Fast and easy to read on a phone. Google indexes the mobile version of a page, and its Core Web Vitals measure loading, responsiveness and layout stability on phones and desktops separately. The targets: the main content displayed within 2.5 seconds, a response to taps within 200 milliseconds, and almost no layout shift. Oversized photos are a common reason a rental site misses them.
8 vacation rental website examples
Each card shows the full home page on a desktop screen and on a phone; both scroll by themselves, so you see the whole page and not only the top. Villa Arty Riviera, Villa Bellerose and Location Normandie are projects of ours. The other five are sites we picked for what they do well. What follows describes the sites as we reviewed them in October 2026.
Tailwaters Lodge
Fly-fishing lodge and cabins · Bristol, Tennessee
A site built around one idea: the river. The opening photo is the view from a cabin deck, with a check-in, check-out and guests bar right on it, and the menu is organized by what a visitor wants to do (Find Your Cabin, Bring Your Group, Go Fly Fishing, Explore) rather than by type of page. The site states its main asset plainly: 540 feet of private river frontage.
The results page lists each stay with its guest count, beds and amenities such as kitchen, Wi-Fi and washing machine, and it can be sorted by price. The site says a guided float trip can be added to a booking, and it links to river-temperature gauges, a small touch that tells anglers its owners know their sport. On a phone, the three date fields fold behind a single Search button.
Key takeaways
- Navigation by intent (find a cabin, bring a group, go fishing) instead of by type of page.
- Guest counts, beds and amenities visible in the search results, before opening any property.
- Type
- Fly-fishing lodge and cabins
- Location
- Bristol, Tennessee (USA)
- Booking
- Lodgify
- Languages
- English
The Shippen
Barn conversion holiday let · Shropshire, England
One property, so the site does not try to be more than that. An aerial photo of the hillside opens the page with an arrival and departure picker, a guest count and a Book Now button. The menu is short (Overview, Map, Gallery, Rates, Availability, Reviews, In The Press, Contact), with Book Now as its last entry.
The Availability page is a calendar showing four months at once. The practical facts sit on the home page: a king bed and a double sofa bed, a travel cot, a kitchen, a wet room, Wi-Fi, arrival at 4 pm and departure at 10 am, open all year. The same page places the property by drive time, with Shrewsbury 25 minutes away and Ludlow 40. On a phone, the picker is replaced by one Book Now button, and checkout is hosted by Lodgify.
Key takeaways
- A four-month availability calendar on its own page, with the practical details (beds, check-in and check-out times) stated on the home page.
- Distances given as drive times to the nearest towns, written for someone planning the trip.
- Type
- Barn conversion for up to four guests
- Location
- Linley, near Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire (UK)
- Booking
- Lodgify
- Languages
- English
Villa Bellerose
Holiday home for 12 · Opal Coast, France
One large house for groups and families, and a home page that leads with the feeling of the place, “The Opal Coast, just like home.” Two clear buttons follow, Book your stay and Discover the villa, with a Pet friendly badge next to the booking button. The date search bar sits right under the opening image.
A strip of numbers answers the first questions at a glance: 12 travelers, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 5 parking spaces. Below it come the extras that sell a group stay: an enclosed private garden, an equipped kitchen, a fireplace, games, self check-in with a key safe and free parking for up to five cars. The booking page gathers guest reviews from several platforms in one widget and offers a WhatsApp link for questions.
Key takeaways
- A strip of key numbers (travelers, bedrooms, bathrooms, parking) right after the opening image.
- Reviews from several platforms gathered on the booking page, where the guest is making the decision.
- Type
- Holiday home for up to 12 travelers
- Location
- Beutin, Opal Coast (Pas-de-Calais, France)
- Booking
- Booky
- Languages
- French, English, Dutch
Olympus Villas
14 villas with private pools · Olympus Riviera, Greece
The opposite problem to a single house: fourteen villas to present without drowning the visitor. On its villas page, Olympus Villas groups them by location (seven in Paralia N. Panteleimona, four in Plaka Litohorou and three on the Olympus Riviera) and gives each villa the same card, with icons for beds, guests and bathrooms and two buttons, Discover and Book now.
A video opens the page with Play video and Book now buttons, and a floating bubble stays on screen with a quote request for guests who would rather ask first. There is no search bar in the opening image: the Book now buttons open a separate booking site. The site is in English and Greek.
Key takeaways
- A catalog presented by location, with identical cards so the villas can be compared.
- Two paths for two kinds of visitor: Book now for the ready, Get a quote for those who want to ask first.
- Type
- Collection of villas with private pools
- Location
- Pieria, Olympus Riviera (Greece)
- Booking
- Separate booking site
- Languages
- English, Greek
Inaterra Homes
Eco-friendly modern homes · Playa Venao, Panama
A surf-town site that sells the homes through their setting. The opening screen is simply “Choose your home” with a date search, and the results list each home with its guests, beds and amenities. The story fits in a few lines: homes designed and built by Espacio LAR, a five-minute drive to Venao beach. An experiences section covers surf classes, hiking, waterfalls, local food, and parties and festivals.
A Gift a Stay! entry in the menu offers gift cards, a way to sell a stay to someone who is not the traveler. On a phone, the search collapses to a single button. The site is in English only.
Key takeaways
- Local experiences described concretely: surf classes, hiking, waterfalls, local food.
- Gift cards in the main menu, for stays bought as presents.
- Type
- Eco-friendly modern homes
- Location
- Playa Venao (Panama)
- Booking
- Lodgify
- Languages
- English
La Bastide du Soleil
10 apartments and studios with a pool · Cannes, France
Ten apartments and studios around a pool, 800 meters (half a mile) from the beaches. The home page opens on the building’s façade with a Book now tab, then shows six apartment cards, each with its name, number of travelers and floor area. The apartments page lists, for each unit, the sleeping arrangements and the equipment: air conditioning, TV, internet, a safe, linen and parking.
Booking happens on a hosted Reservit page that opens off the site, so the site’s job is to answer questions and hand over a guest who has already chosen. Its text makes the case for booking there, to get the best available rate, and it points to guest reviews on TripAdvisor and Booking. The site is in French and English.
Key takeaways
- Apartment cards that show name, capacity and floor area at a glance.
- Equipment listed apartment by apartment (air conditioning, internet, safe, linen, parking).
- Type
- Apartments and studios with a pool
- Location
- Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes, France)
- Booking
- Reservit (hosted booking page)
- Languages
- French, English
Villa Arty Riviera
Villa with heated pool · Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France
One villa, so everything happens on the home page. A slider of photos opens it, the bar with check-in, check-out, travelers and children sits on the first image, and the phone number and a Reservation button are in the header. The menu has five entries: The house, Saint Paul De Vence, Photos, Contact & access, Rates & availability.
The rates page states the conditions before anyone starts a booking: minimum rental period, age limit for children, no pets, end-of-stay cleaning fee. Rates are published for the peak season, May 16 to October 15, and other dates are on request. A carousel titled “The Villa in photos” follows the presentation text.
Key takeaways
- The phone number and booking button in the header, on every page.
- Rental conditions stated on the rates page before the booking starts.
- Type
- Villa with heated pool
- Location
- Saint-Paul-de-Vence (Alpes-Maritimes, France)
- Booking
- Booky
- Languages
- French, English
Location Normandie
Two holiday houses · Veules-les-Roses and Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer
Two houses, Les Colombines and Belle Rive, and a site that gives the reasons to book before the visitor asks. A slider shows four arguments: close to the beach, top-of-the-range equipment, bookings all year round, and the best price on this site. A Book now bar stays fixed on screen, and a “Search for availability” block sits right under the slider.
Each house has a card with a checklist (distance to the beach, floor area, sleeps, bedrooms, garden, parking), followed by a slider of guest testimonials. Booking happens on the site’s own Book online page. The site is in French, English, German, Italian and Spanish, the widest language coverage of the eight.
Key takeaways
- A “best price on this site” argument right next to the beach and the equipment.
- A fixed Book now bar that stays in view as the visitor scrolls.
- Type
- Two holiday houses near the beach
- Location
- Veules-les-Roses and Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer (Seine-Maritime, France)
- Booking
- Booky
- Languages
- French, English, German, Italian, Spanish
The eight sites at a glance
Three of the eight run on Lodgify, three on the Booky booking engine, one on Reservit and one on a separate booking site. The three English-only sites are the three Lodgify ones; Location Normandie, which has five languages, is the widest.
| Website | Location | Type | Booking | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tailwaters Lodge | Bristol, Tennessee (USA) | Fly-fishing lodge and cabins | Lodgify | English |
| The Shippen | Linley, near Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire (UK) | Barn conversion for up to four guests | Lodgify | English |
| Villa Bellerose | Beutin, Opal Coast (Pas-de-Calais, France) | Holiday home for up to 12 travelers | Booky | French, English, Dutch |
| Olympus Villas | Pieria, Olympus Riviera (Greece) | Collection of villas with private pools | Separate booking site | English, Greek |
| Inaterra Homes | Playa Venao (Panama) | Eco-friendly modern homes | Lodgify | English |
| La Bastide du Soleil | Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes, France) | Apartments and studios with a pool | Reservit (hosted booking page) | French, English |
| Villa Arty Riviera | Saint-Paul-de-Vence (Alpes-Maritimes, France) | Villa with heated pool | Booky | French, English |
| Location Normandie | Veules-les-Roses and Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer (Seine-Maritime, France) | Two holiday houses near the beach | Booky | French, English, German, Italian, Spanish |
How these sites take bookings: builder, Booky or a separate page
The eight sites use three different approaches. None is right for everyone, so here is what each one gives you and what it asks in return.
A website builder with booking built in
Tailwaters Lodge, The Shippen and Inaterra Homes all use Lodgify. They share the same kind of search block and results page, and The Shippen’s checkout is hosted on Lodgify’s own domain. That is the appeal: the booking tools are built in and a site can go live quickly. The trade-off is a page structure you share with every other site on the same product, and a checkout that may sit outside your own address.
The Booky booking engine on a custom site
The Booky booking engine is designed for tourist accommodation: guests choose their dates, book and pay on your own site. Bookings taken with Booky carry no commission. Villa Arty Riviera, Villa Bellerose and Location Normandie use it, and because the site around it is custom, each one is built around its own property: a single villa with a slider, a large house with a strip of key numbers, two houses with a fixed Book now bar.
A separate booking page
Olympus Villas sends guests to a separate booking site, and La Bastide du Soleil to a hosted Reservit page. That makes sense when you already run a reservation system or manage many units. The cost is that the guest leaves your design at the most important moment, so the booking page should carry the same name, photos and language as the site.
Direct bookings and the big platforms
Booking platforms bring visibility. Your own site brings the direct relationship with the guest and removes the platform commission on every stay booked there. Many owners keep both and make the website the place guests come back to when they want to book again.
Getting your rates in front of Google
Google documents a VacationRental structured data format, but it applies only to sites already connected with Google through a Technical Account Manager and Hotel Center. It is not something a plugin switches on, and it is not a ranking trick. Hotel Web Design is listed in Google’s directory of Hotels connectivity partners. For most rental owners, the work that matters first is simpler: one page per property, one page for the area, accurate photos and a fast mobile site.
How to design a vacation rental or holiday home website, step by step
- Decide what you rent. One property, several properties in the same place, or a catalog of homes owned by others if you are a property manager. The site map follows from that.
- Choose how bookings are taken. A builder, a booking engine on a custom site, or the system you already use. See the section above.
- Gather the photos. One series per property, shot in daylight, plus a few views of the area. They are what makes people book.
- Write one page per property and one for the area. Concrete sentences: floor area, sleeping arrangements, equipment, and the distance to the beach, the village or the trailhead.
- Launch and get found. A unique title and description on each page, a Google Business Profile with the same website address, and a close look at the requests that come in. This is the work we do in a website with online booking project (page in French); our search optimization page (in French) covers the visibility side.
Other types of accommodation
The same principles apply to other kinds of lodging, with their own particularities. We have examples for hotels, bed and breakfasts and holiday cottages, villas, property managers and mountain chalets (all in French).
Questions about vacation rental websites
What makes a good vacation rental website?
A date search on the first screen, one page per property with the facts that decide (guests, bedrooms, bathrooms, amenities, house rules), at least eight good photos including a bedroom, a bathroom and a common area, conditions stated before the booking starts, and a fast, readable mobile version. The eight examples above do most of these things in different ways.
Do I need a booking engine on my vacation rental website?
Without one, guests have to write or call to learn whether your dates are free. A booking engine shows availability and takes the booking on the site. You can use one built into a site builder, the Booky booking engine on a custom site (bookings taken with Booky carry no commission), or a booking system you already use.
Should I use a website builder or a custom site?
A builder such as Lodgify is quick to set up and includes the booking tools; the three Lodgify examples above show that it can look good with strong photos. The trade-off is a page structure shared with other sites on the same product. A custom site is shaped around your property and lets you choose the booking engine, for example Booky.
How many photos does a vacation rental website need?
Google asks for at least eight photos per property, including a bedroom, a bathroom and a common area, for sites in its vacation rental program. Many sites show far more. What matters is that every room guests will use is shown, and that the files are compressed so the page stays fast on a phone.
Which languages should a vacation rental website offer?
The languages of the guests you already welcome, English first in most cases. Give each language its own address and link the versions with hreflang. Three of the eight examples are English only, while Location Normandie offers five languages because its guests come from several countries.
How do I get direct bookings instead of paying commission?
Make the website the best place to book: clear dates and conditions, strong photos and a booking path that works on a phone. Then help guests find it, with a page per property, a page about the area, a Google Business Profile carrying the same website address, and a link to the site wherever your property is listed. Stays booked on your site carry no platform commission.
