How each one works
Book & pay takes the guest's card and confirms the stay on the spot — the booking is done, with no back-and-forth. Request-to-book sends you the guest's enquiry over WhatsApp; you reply to confirm availability, terms, and price, and the guest knows a real person has the booking in hand. Both are built into your PeakRooms site — you choose how your property confirms its bookings.
When card payment fits best
Reach for Book & pay when speed and certainty matter most:
- Standard rooms with a clear, fixed rate
- Quick turnarounds where you want the booking confirmed instantly
- Guests who'd rather pay now than wait for a reply
- Busy periods when you can't answer enquiries fast enough
When request-to-book fits best
Reach for request-to-book when a stay deserves a conversation:
- A suite-led stay or a whole villa, where you'd rather confirm personally
- Longer or bespoke stays that need terms agreed first
- Guests with questions before they commit
- When the personal welcome is part of what you offer
You don't have to choose just one
Book & pay doesn't switch the conversation off. With instant payment on, standard stays confirm themselves — and a guest who wants to ask about a cot, a late arrival, or a longer stay can still tap into WhatsApp and book by request, so the bespoke bookings still get your personal yes. Whichever way the booking closes, it's direct and commission-free.
Key takeaways
- Book & pay = instant card payment; request-to-book = a WhatsApp enquiry you confirm.
- Run card payment when your stays are standard and certainty wins.
- Run request-to-book when stays deserve a personal confirmation.
- Book & pay keeps WhatsApp open — bespoke requests still reach you personally.
- Either way, the booking is direct and commission-free.
Related questions
- Can I offer both on the same site?
- Yes. With Book & pay on, your site takes instant card bookings and still shows the WhatsApp path, so a guest with questions can ask first and book by request. If you'd rather confirm every stay yourself, run request-to-book on its own.
- Is request-to-book just for properties without payments?
- No — it's a deliberate choice for stays you'd rather confirm personally. Plenty of owners who can take card payments still use request-to-book for their highest-value rooms.
- Do guests pay a fee either way?
- PeakRooms takes no commission on a direct booking, whichever mode you use. Card payments are processed through your payment setup; request-to-book settles however you agree with the guest.
More guides
- How to get more direct bookings
- How to reduce OTA commission
- How to beat OTAs on your own hotel name
- Rate parity, explained
- How WhatsApp booking works for hotels
- Will guests trust booking directly?
- Channel manager or booking website: which do you need?
- How to set room rates for your property
- How to write a hotel cancellation policy
- How to get repeat guests for your hotel
- How to write room descriptions that convert
- How to get your hotel on Google
- What a hotel booking website really costs