Case study · Middleton-on-Sea, West Sussex
We proved it on our own house first.
Sun Beach House is Richard's own holiday let. We're saying that upfront, because it's the point: before we offered anything to another owner, we did it here, with our own money and our own guests.
guests
bedrooms
from the sea
booking channels
The starting point
A lovely house, and too much of it handed to someone else.
Sun Beach House is a five-bedroom house built around 1910, ten metres from the beach at the quiet end of Middleton-on-Sea. It sleeps ten and it's popular for big family birthdays, all year round.
Like most owners, we relied on the booking sites. They brought guests, and they took their commission on every booking. The guests who loved the house were, as far as the booking sites were concerned, their customers rather than ours.
Then we ran a simple test: we searched for the house by name. Three listing sites appeared above our own website. Guests looking for Sun Beach House specifically were being sent somewhere that charged us for the privilege.
What we did
The channels that don't charge commission.
This is what we did, not every step of how. The how is what we do for members.
A website of our own
Written in the owner's voice, with real photos, honest notes on who the house suits and who it doesn't, and a clear way to book direct.
One booking system
A single booking system and calendar connected to around 13 to 15 sites, so we list where a site earns its keep and never double-book.
Found on Google
Working to make our own website the first place people land when they search for the house by name, ahead of the listing sites.
Our own guest list
Staying in touch, with their permission, with guests who've booked with us, so the next booking comes straight to us.
Local partners
Pointing guests to the butcher, the pubs, the Lobster Pot and Arundel. Guests get the best of the area, and the area gets their custom.
Watching the numbers
Knowing where every booking comes from and what it really earns after commission, and adjusting each season.
What guests say
The quality of the stay is the whole point.
More direct bookings only work if guests love the house and want to come back. Sun Beach House holds a 5.0 rating on Airbnb from 26 guest reviews (checked September 2026).
Visit sunbeachhouse.co.ukThe house
Real photos, not stock.
Good photography sells a house. These are the photos we use on the Sun Beach House website.
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