Option 1: Hire a web agency
A professional web agency will design and build a custom hotel website from scratch. For a small independent property — a B&B, guesthouse, or small hotel — you're typically looking at a one-off build fee, then ongoing costs for hosting and support.
What you get
A custom-designed site built to your spec. Professional photography integration, booking engine links, mobile-responsive layout, SEO basics. Usually handed over with a CMS (typically WordPress) so you can edit content yourself.
What it costs
- Build fee: £2,000–£6,000 for a small hospitality site (UK market). French agencies: €2,500–€6,000.
- Annual hosting & maintenance: £600–£2,000/year, depending on whether you have a support contract.
- Updates and changes: Often charged at £60–£120/hour.
- Domain and SSL: £10–£50/year extra.
Many small hotel owners sign a contract, pay the build fee, and then find themselves without a maintenance agreement when something breaks. The site ages, plugins fall out of date, security vulnerabilities accumulate. Going back to the agency costs more each time.
Typical 3-year total
| Cost item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Build fee (one-off) | £4,000 |
| Hosting & maintenance (3 years) | £3,600 |
| Updates and changes | £900 |
| Domain (3 years) | £45 |
| Total over 3 years | ~£8,545 |
Option 2: Build it yourself with WordPress
WordPress is the world's most popular website platform and it's free to download. Thousands of hotel themes exist. On the surface it looks like the cheapest route. In practice, it's rarely as simple as it sounds.
What you get
Full control over your site, lots of flexibility, a huge library of plugins and themes. Works well if you have technical confidence and time to maintain it.
What it costs
- WordPress itself: Free — but this is where the free part ends.
- Premium theme: £50–£200 one-off.
- Hosting: £10–£30/month (SiteGround, Kinsta, etc.).
- Plugins (security, backups, SEO, performance): £100–£300/year.
- Your time: Updating plugins, troubleshooting conflicts, dealing with speed issues. Often 5–10 hours per month for a non-technical user.
- Developer help when things break: Freelancers charge £40–£80/hour.
WordPress sites require constant attention. Plugins update every few weeks. Security vulnerabilities are discovered regularly. If you ignore updates, your site gets hacked. If you keep up with updates, something breaks. This is not a "set it and forget it" solution — it demands your ongoing time and technical patience.
Typical 3-year total
| Cost item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Theme and setup | £150 |
| Hosting (3 years) | £720 |
| Plugins (3 years) | £600 |
| Developer fixes (3 years, occasional) | £600 |
| Domain (3 years) | £45 |
| Total over 3 years (cash only) | ~£2,115 |
That looks cheap — until you add your own time. At a modest £20/hour for time spent managing the site (3–5 hours per month), three years adds another £2,160–£3,600 in implicit cost. For most hotel owners, their time is worth far more than that.
Option 3: Monthly service — website as a subscription
A newer model: no large upfront build fee, monthly payment that covers everything. The agency builds the site and keeps it running for a flat monthly cost. You get a professional result without the capital outlay or ongoing technical management.
This is how Pixelbee Solutions works. £0 to start, €92/month (approximately £78/month), everything included: design, build, hosting, maintenance, and one content update per month.
What's included
- Professional hospitality-specific website design
- All hosting on Cloudflare's global network — fast everywhere
- Technical updates and security — you never have to think about it
- One content change per month included (swap photos, update prices, correct text)
- The site code lives in a private Git repository — your business data is never at risk
- Full source code transfer after 24 months if you don't renew
Typical 3-year total
| Cost item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Build fee | €0 |
| Monthly fee (36 months) | €3,312 |
| Domain (3 years) | €27 |
| Total over 3 years | ~€3,339 |
Side-by-side: which option wins over 3 years?
| Option | 3-year total (cash) | Your time needed | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web agency | ~£8,545 | Low | Best quality, highest cost |
| WordPress (DIY) | ~£2,115 + your time | High (5–10 hrs/month) | Cheap on paper, expensive in practice |
| Pixelbee (monthly) | ~€3,339 | Minimal | Best value for small hotels |
But does the website actually pay for itself?
This is the right question. A website that brings in direct bookings saves real money — because every booking through Booking.com costs you 15–22% of the room rate in commission.
Let's use a realistic example: an 8-room guesthouse, average room rate of £95/night, occupancy of 55%.
If you divert just 6 bookings per month from Booking.com to direct, each at £95/night, you save roughly £1,026 in commission per year — more than enough to cover a full year of Pixelbee's monthly fee.
6 direct bookings/month × £95 room rate × 18% commission saved = £1,026 saved per year. Pixelbee annual cost: €1,104 (≈ £936). The website pays for itself with fewer than six direct bookings per month.
Every additional direct booking after that is pure savings. For most small properties, the break-even point is reached well within the first few months of having a proper direct booking presence.
What to ask any provider before you sign
Whether you're talking to a local agency, a freelancer, or a subscription service, these four questions will tell you everything you need to know:
- Who owns the website after the contract ends? You should always receive the source files and be free to move. If a provider can't answer this clearly, walk away.
- What happens if I want to update the site — is that included? Many "low monthly fee" services charge £50+ for every text change. Ask exactly what is and isn't included.
- How is the site hosted, and what happens if something goes wrong? Cheap shared hosting on an unknown server is a different proposition from a site served on Cloudflare's global edge network.
- Can I see examples of hospitality sites you've built? A provider with no portfolio in your sector is guessing at your needs.
Summary
There is no universally "cheapest" option — it depends entirely on your time, your technical confidence, and what you need the site to do. But for a small hotel or guesthouse that wants a professional result without technical headaches, a purpose-built monthly service almost always offers the best value over a 2–3 year horizon. The build cost is £0. The site pays for itself with a handful of direct bookings. And you can spend your time running your property, not updating WordPress plugins at midnight.
Curious what your hotel website would look like?
Pixelbee Solutions builds hospitality websites for small hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses and gîtes — no setup fee, no jargon, no lock-in on your hosting. Get in touch for a free, no-pressure chat.
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