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Demand Plus: Frequently asked questions

Activation and setup

How do I activate Demand Plus?

  1. Navigate to Distribution > Demand Plus

  2. Click Get started

  3. Follow setup prompts

Why is my Demand Plus status "Awaiting activation"?

Your status shows ‘Awaiting activation’ because you’ve started Demand Plus and completed setup, and our support team is now finishing activation.

After you start Demand Plus from Distribution > Demand Plus > Get started and complete the setup steps, your status shows ‘Awaiting activation’. Our support team then completes activation within three business days, and your status changes to ‘Active’.

Once your status is Active, it may take up to two weeks before your listings are live on Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, and Tripadvisor.

How do I check my status history?

  1. Navigate to Distribution > Demand Plus

  2. Scroll to page bottom

  3. Click Status change history

Status types include:

  • Active

  • Paused: Temporarily inactive with scheduled reactivation

  • Suspended: Disabled with no scheduled reactivation (can be reactivated anytime)

  • Blocked: Disabled by Little Hotelier (usually due to missed payments)

Do I need a Direct Booking subscription to use Demand Plus?

If you’re using Demand Plus without a Direct Booking subscription, you will have access to set up basic booking engine features for Demand Plus, but advanced Direct Booking features like promotion codes, member discounts, plug-in apps and other booking-engine customisation options are not available.

Demand Plus works only with Little Hotelier's own booking engine (Direct Booking). It cannot be used with your own website booking engine or a third-party booking engine, and it cannot be used as an SEO or traffic tool for another booking engine.

Pricing and billing

What does it cost?

  • No setup or monthly fees

  • Only pay a small commission fee on completed stays + applicable taxes. Based on the net booking amount

  • Pause or cancel at anytime

The commission rate for Demand Plus varies per region and booking source.

How can I see my commission rate?

To view your Demand Plus commission rate:

  • Already activated: go to Distribution > Demand Plus

  • Not yet activated: go to Distribution > Demand Plus > Get Started > Demand Plus Setup

For Google Hotel Ads, the rate differs depending on which booking link the guest used:

  • Featured options: your property appears at the top of the Featured options section when a guest selects Check Availability on your Google listing. Commission varies per region. To view your exact rate, go to Distribution > Demand Plus

  • All Options: your property appears in Google's All Options section. 3%, regardless of region

For AI platform bookings:

  • During the beta until 30 November 2026: 0% commission for AI bookings, then from 1 December 2026, 6% commission + applicable taxes (based on net booking amount)

Can I set up automatic payments?

Yes, through the self-serve billing portal:

  1. Navigate to Billing > Accounts

  2. Enable automatic payment for Demand Plus

Bookings and reconciliation

Where can I view my Demand Plus bookings?

  1. Navigate to Distribution > Demand Plus > Statements

  2. Select Year and Month

  3. Click Search

See bookings in Reservations or in reservation confirmation emails.

Why does a direct booking show a commission fee?

When this happens:

  • The guest found your property through Demand Plus advertising

  • They clicked through to your booking engine and completed the reservation

  • The reservation may appear as a direct booking (BBN-booking reference, source Direct Booking), however the Demand Plus commission applies because the booking originated from Demand Plus - if the booking came from Demand Plus, the Source column will contain Demand Plus: "Direct Booking/property name_Demand Plus"

How can I tell if a reservation is a Demand Plus booking?

To check whether a reservation is a Direct Booking or a Demand Plus booking:

  • Check your reservation confirmation email: It will identify if it's a Demand Plus booking

  • Check from the Reservations page: Find the reservation and check the Source column. The Source column will show "Direct Booking/property name_Demand Plus"

  • Check from your Demand Plus statement: Go to Distribution > Demand Plus > Statements to see all Demand Plus reservations

  • Check the invoice: Go to Billing > Booking fees and filter by Demand Plus to see commission charges (must be a billing user)

The Source will show Direct Booking even when the reservation came through Demand Plus. Demand Plus bookings are completed in your Little Hotelier booking engine (Direct Booking), so the reservation reference starts with BBN or BBE and the Reservation ID shows “via Direct Booking”.

If the Source column shows Direct Booking and does not show Demand Plus, the reservation is a Direct Booking and Demand Plus commission will not be charged.

Note: AI-sourced bookings appear as Demand Plus bookings and are not separately labelled on the reservation. AI bookings will show Demand Plus, the same as a metasearch booking. To see AI booking totals, check the AI Platforms row under Distribution > Demand Plus.

Where do I find payment card details for a Demand Plus booking?

Demand Plus bookings are completed through your booking engine as a Direct Booking. View the reservation from the Reservations page in Little Hotelier - there’s no separate Demand Plus extranet to log in to.

Card details are only captured if the rate required pre-payment (“Pre-payment details needed to secure booking”). If it was, open the reservation and view the card details under the Payment section in the reservation, within seven days of check-out and with the right permissions. Card details for Demand Plus are always the guest’s own card details. Demand Plus does not provide virtual credit cards (VCC).

💡 CVV/CVC codes are not stored in Little Hotelier. For Demand Plus reservations, the CVV is sent in the body of the reservation confirmation e-mail sent to your property.

How do I confirm a guest has paid for a Demand Plus booking?

Demand Plus bookings are completed through your booking engine as a Direct Booking. Demand Plus does not collect or hold the payment, and there is no paid or unpaid indicator in your Demand Plus statement. How you confirm payment depends on the payment gateway set up for your booking engine.

If you use Little Hotelier Pay:

  1. Go to Payments > Transactions.

  2. Search for the reservation number.

  3. Open the transaction and check the transaction status.

If you use a third-party payment gateway (such as PayPal): payments made through a third-party gateway are not recorded in your Little Hotelier transactions list. Confirm the payment directly in your payment provider’s own dashboard.

If the rate did not require pre-payment: no payment is taken at the time of booking, so there is no online payment to confirm.

Making sure you're only charged for completed stays

With Demand Plus, you're only charged commission on completed stays.

Confirm if the booking came through Demand Plus in the confirmation email, your Demand Plus statement (Distribution > Demand Plus > Statements), or the invoice (Billing > Booking fees, filtered by Demand Plus).

To avoid being charged for bookings that didn't result in a stay, reconcile cancelled or no-show reservations by the 7th of each month. Once marked cancelled or no show, a reservation is excluded from commission.

How do I reconcile bookings?

Complete by the 7th of each month:

  1. Navigate to Distribution > Demand Plus > Statements

  2. Select relevant reservation

  3. Choose Cancel reservation or Mark as no show

When are reconciliation reminders sent?

You'll receive two email notifications:

  • Monthly booking summary

  • Initial reminder to mark any reservations as cancellations or no shows

  • Final reminder

  • Last chance to make changes

Can I set up extras for Demand Plus bookings?

No. Booking extras can’t be configured for Demand Plus bookings.

To apply applicable taxes or fees, set them up in Payments.

Metasearch sites

Why isn't my property appearing on metasearch sites?

Check the following:

  1. Confirm Demand Plus is active

  2. Verify metasearch profiles are set up

  3. Ensure property details match your Little Hotelier account

  4. Confirm profiles are in the correct category

  1. Google Hotel Ads: Hotel property category

  2. Tripadvisor: Hotels category

  3. Trivago: Accommodation category

Allow up to 7 days for your property listing to appear after updating your details.

How does ranking work on metasearch sites?

Rankings depend on:

  • How well your property matches the search criteria

  • How many properties you're competing with

  • Property location

  • Market demand

Example: "Hotel in London" will compete with more properties than a search for "family hotel with pool in London".

Tripadvisor

What's the difference between Demand Plus versus connecting to Tripadvisor directly?

Through Demand Plus:

  • Appears as Official hotel site

  • Links to your Little Hotelier booking engine

  • Demand Plus commission rate

Through Tripadvisor Plus/Instant Booking:

  • Shows the Tripadvisor label

  • Clicking View deal opens the Tripadvisor checkout

  • Tripadvisor commission rate

SEO

Will Demand Plus affect my website’s SEO?

No. Demand Plus listings link to your booking engine, not your website, so your website's SEO won't be affected.

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