Inn or bed and breakfast website: what guests check before they book

A guest on your site has picked the town. Now they're choosing a room, a price they can trust, and whether your rules fit them: pets, children, stairs, cancelling. They book in your reservation system, so your site's job is everything around that click.

In October 2026 we opened 34 independent inn and B&B websites in 12 states. Nearly all had a page for each room. Far fewer showed their phone number on a phone, described their access, or gave one clear total price.

Link to your reservation system from every page

All 34 booked in a system the inn pays for, like ThinkReservations (17 of 34), ResNexus, Cloudbeds or Rezstream. Keep it. Our Bookings add-on is not a room-by-night system: it has no nightly availability, multi-night stays or rate calendar. Use your own for rooms.

1. Open Pages, choose your home page and click Add a section. Pick Booking.
2. Set Booking service to Other, paste your booking page link, and type Button text like "Check availability". See Connect a booking calendar.
3. Click Menu. Under Header button, type Button text like "Book your stay" and point Goes to at your booking page. See Set up the header button.

If your system gives you a widget, an Embed code section can show it on your page. Some won't load inside another site, so keep a button too. See Add embed code.

Make your phone number one tap away

Nineteen of 34 showed no phone number on the first phone screen. Inns are still a business where people call about a long stay, a wedding or the whole house.

1. Click Business info. Check Phone, typed the way you'd say it.
2. Click Menu, and under Header button turn on Call bar on phones. See Add a call bar on phones.

Give every room its own description

Thirty of 34 had a page or card for each room. Guests want the bed, bath, floor and who it sleeps. Use real names, like "Garden Room".

1. Add a Services section to a Rooms page (Pages, New page), with one item per room: Name, Photo and a Description such as "King bed, private bath, gas fireplace, second floor, sleeps 2".
2. Fill in Link with that room's page in your booking system.
3. Describe each photo. See Describe your photos.

Use your own photos. A stock bedroom on a page about the "Rossetti Suite" costs trust. Stock is fine for breakfast or the garden. See Free photos.

Show the total price

Thirty of 34 showed dollar amounts, and about 12 said tax is added. Two named a mandatory fee in their policies: one a $9-a-night service fee and one a $30 cleaning fee per stay. Since May 12, 2025 the FTC's fees rule covers inns, and it says to show the total price, including mandatory fees, more prominently than any other price. Taxes can be listed separately; optional extras can stay out.

1. Add a Price list / menu section to your Rooms page. Make a Group for each kind of room and an item for each room with its Name and Price, like "From $189".
2. Make "From" the lowest total a guest can really book, with mandatory fees already in it.
3. Under Fine print, say what's added: "Plus 10% lodging tax. Rates are per night for two guests."
4. Type the date in Prices last updated.

If your rates change by date, say "from" and when. This isn't legal advice: check the rule with your state's lodging office or a lawyer.

Say your cancellation and arrival rules

Twenty-one of 34 gave a notice period, and 10 kept a processing fee even for a cancellation in time.

1. Click Pages, then New page, start from the Basic page template and call it "Policies".
2. Say: the days of notice, what you keep, the deposit and when it's taken, the minimum stay by season or weekend, and early departures.
3. Link it from your footer (Menu, then Add footer links) and next to your Book button.

Also give your check-in and check-out times, and how a late guest gets in (a code, or a call ahead): 21 of 34 gave a check-in time and 12 explained late arrival. Say if there's parking or an EV charger. Put the short version in your FAQ, and match what your booking system says. About 14 of 34 gave a minimum stay.

Describe breakfast

Twenty-two gave breakfast hours and 23 mentioned allergies or diets. Say when it's served, whether it's hot, at a table or in the room, and how much notice a special diet needs. Make a Breakfast page with a Photo + text section and a photo of a real plate.

Rules for serving breakfast differ by state. Texas, for example, exempts a small B&B serving only overnight guests but asks for a food manager's course, and Vermont wants a food license for more than packaged items, whole fruit or coffee. Ask your health department, and don't say it needs no license.

Describe your access, in words

Sixteen of 34 said something about stairs or access. Eight said the building isn't accessible, and only 2 described a room as accessible. The ADA's reservations rule (28 CFR 36.302(e)) asks a lodging to describe accessible features in enough detail that a guest can judge for themselves. A historic building doesn't remove the need to describe it.

1. Open your Accessibility page, or make one. Add a Photo + text section: "Getting around the inn".
2. Say which rooms are on the ground floor, how many steps from parking to the door, whether there's an elevator, and the bathroom (a tub, a shower, a grab bar).
3. End with a number to call. Say plainly if no room is accessible. A site accessibility statement on its own isn't enough: 10 of 34 had one and said nothing about their rooms.

Pets, children, and who it suits

Twenty-three of 34 stated a pet policy and "pet friendly" and "adults only" are searched on their own. Say which rooms, what size, the fee, and that service animals are welcome. Give an age for children, or say you're adults only. Say your smoking rule too.

Sell gift certificates, and say if they expire

Twenty-two mentioned gift certificates and only 4 said whether they expire. If your reservation system sells them, link to it. For an amount at your desk, the Gift cards and coupons add-on sells a card on a Gift cards section and scans it in person. It can't be used inside your outside system, so you take the amount off by hand. See Sell gift cards on your site.

Federal rules say a gift card can't expire within five years, and some states bar expiry. Say what yours do.

Weddings, retreats and packages

Twenty-three mentioned weddings or elopements, and "elopement packages" is its own search. Make a page with the sizes you host, what's included and a Form. For a retreat weekend sold per person, an Event can take sign-ups with a set number of spots. See Take sign-ups on your site. The Bookings add-on suits a class, tour or tasting, and Reservations a dining room open to the public. See Take bookings on your site and Take restaurant reservations.

Add a Packages section for getaways. Say what's extra.

Give a reason to book direct

Thirteen of 34 made a book-direct promise, and the best were specific: "no service fees or booking commissions", a free upgrade, or three nights for the price of two. Put the perk in a Highlights section on your home page and next to your Book button. Say what it really is, and don't promise a "best rate" you can't keep.

Show your reviews

Nineteen linked to TripAdvisor.

1. Add your best recent reviews to your Reviews list.
2. Add a Reviews section to your home page.
3. Paste your Google review link into Leave-a-review link in Business info.

Asking everyone is fine. A perk only for five stars isn't. See Reviews and Ask customers for a review.

Show your license number if your area asks

None of the 34 showed a license or registration number. A licensed inn often doesn't need one in its ads, but short-term rentals do in some places: Denver requires a license number in every ad, and New York City requires a registration number. Check with your city. Then type it into License number under Location in Business info and it shows in your footer. See Business info and hours.

Know the rules

This isn't legal advice, and the rules vary by place. Check yours with your state and your city.

• Prices. The FTC's fees rule; California has its own.
• Access. The ADA's reservations rule.
• Food and lodging licenses. State by state.
• Reviews. The FTC's rule bars fake reviews and rewards tied to a good one.
• Gift cards. Expiry limits.

Answer the questions guests ask

Add an FAQ section: How do I book? Is it cheaper direct? What's the total with tax? Cancellation? Check-in and late arrival? Breakfast and diets? Pets? Children? Is it accessible? Parking? Weddings? Gift certificates? Suggest questions in Lists › FAQs drafts more. See Use suggested questions.

Tips

• Give your home page a search title with your town, like "Bed and breakfast in Cape May, NJ". See Set a page's search title and description.
• Match your Google Business Profile: the same name, phone and hours. Most small inns fit Bed & breakfast, and an inn with a public restaurant fits Inn.
• The Ask us chat can answer "Is there parking?" for you. See Ask us chat.
• Spanish is available at no extra cost. See Show your site in Spanish.