Upselling extras to guests: breakfast, transfers, late check-out and spa

Paolo Vezzola

Founder · Vezpa PMS · Profile →

In a small property the number of rooms doesn't grow. What can grow, if you look after it, is how much each stay earns. Breakfast, a pick-up from the station, a late check-out, a massage: these are services many guests would happily pay for, if someone offered them at the right moment and in a clear way. This guide covers which extras work for B&Bs, guest houses, holiday lets and small hotels in the UK and Ireland, when to offer them, how to present them and how to tell whether they are really lifting revenue per booking.

1. Why extras matter more than they seem

Raising the room rate has a ceiling: past a certain point guests compare and book elsewhere. An extra, on the other hand, is added to a decision that has already been made. Someone who has chosen your property is past the main doubt; at that stage a useful service, well explained and clearly priced, is judged by a different yardstick.

There is a less obvious benefit too: many extras make the stay better. A guest who arrives from the airport without hunting for a taxi, or who can leave the room at 3 pm instead of 10 am, remembers the place for that detail. Good upselling isn't a sales trick; it's hospitality with a price tag.

2. Which extras work in a small property

You don't need a resort-style menu. What works are extras that solve a real problem for the guest or make a moment of the trip special. The most common:

• Breakfast, if it isn't already in the rate: in the room, at the table, or a grab-and-go bag for early departures.
• Late check-out and early check-in: cheap to give when the room isn't already booked, and worth a lot to anyone on an evening flight.
• Transfers from the airport or station, even through a trusted local driver at an agreed fixed price.
• Spa and wellness treatments: massages, sessions, day passes, if you have a wellness area or a therapist you work with.
• Occasion packages: a bottle in the room, flowers, a cake for an anniversary or birthday.
• Practical services: parking, bike hire, cot or high chair, pets, a hamper of local produce.

Price ranges: examples, not market averages

To get your bearings, here are some indicative ranges to start from. They are not market data: they depend on location, season, your own cost and your type of guest. Before publishing them, check them against your costs and what properties nearby offer.

3. When to offer them: the three moments that count

During the direct booking

This is the best moment: the guest is planning the trip and thinking about the stay as a whole. A dedicated step between choosing the room and entering personal details, with a few well-illustrated extras, works better than a list buried at the bottom of the page. What matters is that the total updates straight away, with no surprises at payment.

Before arrival

A few days before check-in the guest is thinking about logistics: how do I get there, what time, where do I park. That's the right moment for transfers, early check-in, parking and breakfast. A short, personal message with two or three suggestions earns more than a full catalogue.

On site

During the stay, needs arise on the spot: tomorrow's late check-out, a massage after a long walk, a bottle to celebrate. Simplicity is what counts here: the guest should be able to say yes without reaching for a wallet, with the charge going on the room bill to be settled at departure.

4. How to present them: photos, descriptions, translations

An extra written as “Breakfast — £10” barely sells. The same extra with a photo of the laid table and two concrete lines (“7:30 to 10 am, bread from the village bakery, gluten-free on request”) sells far better. A few practical rules:

• A real photo, taken by you, beats a stock image.
• A description that answers the questions: what's included, when, where, for how many people.
• A clear price: per person, per night or per stay, stated explicitly.
• Few offers: four or five relevant extras are worth more than twenty lines.
• The guest's language: a German or Spanish visitor buys more readily what they understand without a translator.

5. Direct booking or OTA: where it pays to sell

When an extra is part of a rate sold on a channel (for example a “breakfast included” rate on Booking.com), it is normally part of the amount the commission is calculated on: check the terms of your agreement. Extras sold in the direct booking or on site, by contrast, stay outside the channel's commission.

That doesn't mean giving up on OTA guests: it means selling them extras later, with a message before arrival or at reception. And it gives people who book direct one more reason to do so: a website where they can build their own stay, with breakfast, transfer and treatments, is a concrete argument.

6. Measuring the result: extra revenue per booking and TRevPAR

Without numbers, upselling stays a feeling. Two indicators are enough to see whether it works:

• Extra revenue per booking: total takings from extras divided by the number of bookings in the period. It tells you what each stay is worth on average beyond the room.
• TRevPAR (Total Revenue Per Available Room): total revenue, rooms plus extras, divided by available rooms. Unlike RevPAR, which only looks at the room, it shows what each room really earns.

An example with made-up figures, purely to show the maths: 10 rooms over 30 nights makes 300 available rooms. If in a month you take £24,000 from rooms and £3,000 from extras across 80 bookings, RevPAR is £80, TRevPAR is £90 and extra revenue per booking is £37.50. Compare the same month last year, and look at which extras carry the weight: often two or three services account for almost all of the result.

7. How Vezpa does it

• Extras showcase in the booking engine: during the direct booking, the “Customise your stay” step offers breakfast, transfers, late check-out and other optional extras, with photo, description and translations. The step only appears when there is something to offer.
• Extras bookable from the app: add an extra to a booking later, for example when the guest asks for a late check-out at reception.
• Online wellness/spa showcase: treatments bookable with therapist, date and time, plus products for sale; treatments and products also appear in the booking engine showcase.
• Till and catalogue: a single catalogue of departments, items and stock for the till, booking engine and wellness. Take cash, card or charge to room; the stay bill and the extras bill stay separate in the booking record.
• Saved messages: write your pre-arrival message with your offers once and send it from the booking by email or WhatsApp, with the guest's details already filled in.
• Statistics with TRevPAR: next to RevPAR you see total revenue per available room, extras included.

The booking engine and guest emails are available in 22 languages; the app in 21. For the full picture, see the features page.

Frequently asked questions

Do guests find upselling annoying?

Rarely, as long as the offer is relevant and well timed. A late check-out offered to someone with an evening flight is a service, not a sales push. What annoys guests is long lists, unclear prices and repeated reminders.

How much should I charge for breakfast or a late check-out?

There is no single right price: start from your own cost, what the service is worth to the guest and how busy that day is. The ranges in this article are starting examples, not market averages.

Can I sell extras to guests who booked through Booking.com or Airbnb?

Yes. The booking comes from the channel, but you can offer extras before arrival with a message and sell them on site, charged to the room bill. Always check the terms of your agreement with the channel.

What is TRevPAR?

Total Revenue Per Available Room: rooms plus extras (breakfast, spa, bar, services) divided by the rooms available in the period. Unlike RevPAR, it also shows what the services you sell on top of the stay are earning.