Photos that load and everything worth knowing before coming.

Photos decide, but only if they load

In accommodation the photo is half the sale. The trouble is that a gallery of thirty images straight off a phone weighs an enormous amount and, on a traveller’s phone with limited data, never actually gets seen. Every image is cropped and compressed to the size it will be shown at, and the whole gallery ends up weighing less than one original photo.

And one piece of common sense: the photos to show are the ones travellers dread. The bathroom, the kitchen, the actual bed and the real view from the terrace. Whatever gets hidden on the website gets discovered on arrival, and there is no fixing it then.

Capacity, with no sleight of hand

«Sleeps six» can mean three double beds or two beds and a sofa bed. The difference is enormous for somebody arriving with children or with friends, and telling it straight scares nobody off: it filters out whoever was going to arrive annoyed. The layout gets explained room by room, with the bed in each one.

Real amenities, not a copied list

The amenities list is useful if it tells the truth and the nuance: there is wifi, but upstairs it is weak; there is heating, but it is a wood burner and somebody has to light it. That nuance costs no bookings: it prevents complaints and saves reviews.

The rules, before booking

Arrival and departure times, noise, pets, parties, deposit. All of it gets stated on the site and repeated in the confirmation. Most conflicts in a small property are not about the rules: they are about nobody reading them in time.

The same thing, explained in general: Fast hosting