Start with your pitches, not the software

Before you pick any tool, write down what you actually sell. List each type of pitch (hardstanding, grass, electric, serviced), its size, and what each one has. This is what lets a guest book the right pitch for their unit, and it is the information you will be asked for first by any campsite booking system.

If guests can choose their own pitch, say whether they pick from a list or from a site map. A map takes more setting up but guests find it easy, and it cuts down the calls asking where a pitch is.

Set your prices and seasons

Decide which dates have which prices. Most sites have seasons built around Easter, the bank holidays and the school holidays. Doing this once for the whole year, and reusing it next year, is far less work than changing prices date by date. Nimbo Stay’s season planner lines next year up with this year so Easter, the bank holidays and the school holidays land where they belong.

Decide your deposit rule

Online booking needs a clear rule for what a guest pays now and what they pay later. A deposit can be a percentage of the stay, a fixed amount or the first night. Choose a minimum and a maximum so a short stay and a long one both make sense.

Whatever you choose, show it to the guest in plain words before they pay, and repeat it in their confirmation email. Surprises at the payment screen are where bookings are lost. Our guide to minimum stays and deposits for bank holidays goes further on this.

Make the booking page easy

Many campsite guests are older, and many book from a phone. Keep the booking to a few short screens, with big buttons and the price showing as they go. Only show pitches that fit their unit, so they cannot book something that will not fit.

Add a way to see their booking afterwards and pay what is owed, so they do not need to ring you to ask.

Connect card payments

To take a deposit online you need a card payment provider. Nimbo Stay uses Stripe, with payments going to your own Stripe account and card details going straight to Stripe. Check that the balance can be collected too, ideally by itself on the due date with a reminder beforehand, so you are not chasing money.

Keep phone bookings in the same system

You will still take bookings by phone. The key is that a phone booking and an online booking land in the same place, so a pitch cannot be booked twice. The phone booking form should only offer pitches that are free for those dates.

If you also list on other booking sites, set up calendar sync in both directions so they cannot double-book you either.

Test it like a guest, then go live

Before you switch online booking on, book a stay yourself on your phone, and read every email it sends. Check the deposit wording, the dates and the pitch. Nimbo Stay tests your booking page for you before you go live, then checks it every few hours afterwards and emails you if anything changes.

Once it is live, watch the first few bookings arrive. If a guest struggles, you want to know early: Nimbo Stay tells you straight away when a guest keeps failing to book, so you can ring them before they give up.

Where to go next

If you are comparing options, read our checklist for choosing campsite booking software. To see how this works in Nimbo Stay, start with campsite booking software, or tell us about your site and your account can be open the same day.