Until the end of 2025 the sums were simple: on Airbnb you saw a rental price, and underneath was a service fee of around 14 to 16.5 per cent. The surcharge was visible. Everyone could decide for themselves whether they wanted to pay it.
Since December 2025 that has changed. Airbnb has switched to a host-only fee model: around 15.5 per cent is charged to the host, and guests no longer see a separate service fee. That sounds like relief for travellers. In reality the fee hasn't disappeared – it has simply become invisible.
Why an invisible fee is worse than a visible one
No host pays 15.5 per cent out of their own pocket. The fee moves into the nightly rate. The difference from before: you can no longer see it, and so you can no longer calculate it out.
Nothing has changed in the model at Booking.com. There, hosts pay an average commission of around 15 per cent, and if they use the platform's own payment processing, roughly 1.4 per cent is added on top. This amount has always been built into the price as well.
Bottom line: with a platform booking you will, as a rule, pay a price that includes an intermediary fee of roughly 15 per cent – whether or not it is shown.
What that means for a villa week
A worked example. A week in one of our villas costs between around 1,750 euros and 7,000 euros depending on the season. Let's take a mid-season week at 3,850 euros:
- Intermediary fee of around 15 per cent: about 578 euros
- For two weeks: about 1,155 euros
- In high season at 7,000 euros per week: around 1,050 euros
That's not a theoretical amount. That's money spent on the intermediary – not on your stay.
With a direct booking, this item falls away. We pass part of it straight on to you and invest the rest in the houses and the service on site. In practice, you usually pay five to ten per cent less with us than through a platform.
The second, bigger difference: our price is the final price
The intermediary fee is only one half. The other is the items that only appear on platforms at the booking step – or even only on site.
Our nightly rate includes:
- Final cleaning – often a separate three-figure item on platforms
- Tourist tax – the Croatian visitor charge, otherwise often payable in cash on site
- Pool heating – no surcharge and no advance notice needed
- Electricity and water – even with the air conditioning running
- Towels, bed linen, toiletries
- Wi-Fi – Starlink on the fastest plan plus a backup line
Pool heating in particular is underestimated. Where it's charged separately, 30 to 60 euros per day add up quickly – in April, May, September and October, exactly when you need it. For a week in October, this one item can completely eat up the price advantage of a supposedly cheaper platform booking.
Our advice, even if you book elsewhere: compare final prices, not nightly rates. Click through to the last booking page before you put two offers side by side.
Our best-price promise – and how seriously we mean it
If you find the same villa cheaper anywhere else: let us know. We'll match the rate and, as a rule, undercut it by at least a further five per cent.
That's not a marketing slogan but simply economically possible – because we save the intermediary fee and so have room that a pure platform price doesn't have.
What else is different with us
You talk to people, not a form
With a platform booking, communication runs through a messaging system, and if there are problems you end up on a hotline. With us you write directly to the team that looks after the houses. We usually reply within a few minutes, often faster – via WhatsApp, email or phone.
More flexibility on the details
Earlier check-in, later check-out, baby equipment, a stay with a dog, a special occasion: these can be arranged directly. Through a platform, things like this are often a matter of standard rules that nobody is allowed to adjust.
More flexible payment
We offer PayPal, credit card including American Express, Klarna with instalments, instant bank transfer, Google Pay and Apple Pay. With a four-figure amount, that makes a real difference.
A welcome gift
When you book direct, a little something awaits you on arrival. Nothing earth-shattering, but a nicer start than an empty kitchen.
Where platforms are the better choice
So that this doesn't become a one-sided sales page – there are situations where a platform booking makes more sense:
- You don't know the provider. With an unknown host in an unfamiliar region, the buyer protection of a large platform is a real argument. With us you can instead check the publicly viewable reviews on Airbnb, Booking, Google and Trustpilot – we deliberately haven't copied them onto our site but linked to them.
- You want to compare many properties in parallel. Platforms are built for that, and they do it well.
- You're booking at very short notice and want no back-and-forth. An instant-book click at 11 pm is convenient.
Our point isn't that platforms are bad. Our point is that you get the same service for the same villa – just about 15 per cent more expensive, plus the items added on top there.
The terms, so you can compare
- Deposit: 500 euros, by credit card or in cash on site, fully refunded if returned without damage
- Cancellation: free of charge up to 60 days before arrival, no refund after that. Payment: 50% at booking, the rest 60 days before arrival
- Pets: 79 euros cleaning fee per dog and stay
- Check-in / check-out: from 4:00 pm / by 10:00 am
- Smoking indoors: not permitted, 500 euros special cleaning charge
And if you stay longer
For longer stays, tiered discounts are already built into the prices. You can see how that develops on our overview of long stays . From around two weeks, we are also far more flexible on arrival and departure days than the usual Saturday-to-Saturday rhythm.
In short
Since December 2025 the intermediary fee hasn't got smaller, only harder to see. If you book direct, you save it – you get a price with no surprises at check-out and, on top of that, a direct line to the people who look after the house.
We worked through how the total cost of a week is made up in a separate article: What does a villa holiday in Croatia really cost?
Find our villas between Split and Trogir here. Or simply drop us a line with your preferred dates – we usually reply within a few minutes.
