Hotels compete. You win.
Section 2 · How it actually looks
This is what an Edinburgh hotel sees when you post a trip.
A worked example. The trip request card is what the hotel's inbox shows. The offer cards are what comes back.
EDINBURGH
Dates
Tue 17 – Thu 19 June 2026
2 nights
Guests
3 guests
3 single rooms
Budget
Up to £180/guest/night
Must-haves
- Breakfast included for all 3 guests
- Meeting room, Wed afternoon (≈3 hrs)
- On-site parking for 2 cars
- Walking distance to St Andrew Square (financial district)
Hotels review your trip and send their offers
Offers received · 3 of 3
The Thornbury
Stockbridge boutique
TRIP TOTAL
£990
Trip total · 3 guests × 2 nights · £165/guest/night
- Full Scottish breakfast for 3
- Boardroom for 6 · Wed 2 to 5pm, no charge
- Valet parking for 2 cars
The Lamplight Collection
Old Town · 8 min walk to St Andrew Sq
TRIP TOTAL
£912
Trip total · 3 guests × 2 nights · £152/guest/night
- Breakfast buffet included for 3
- Meeting room · 3 hrs Wednesday, complimentary
- 2 secure parking spots in adjacent lot
The Gilded Fox
Cowgate · design hotel
TRIP TOTAL
£870
Trip total · 3 guests × 2 nights · £145/guest/night
- Breakfast in-room for 3
- Co-working lounge + boardroom on request
- Public car park £15/24h (5 min walk)
Illustrative example. Real offers vary by hotel availability and date.
Why offers come in under retail
A hotel's empty room this Wednesday is worth £0 to them by Thursday. Your trip request lets them quote what they'd actually accept, not the public rate they'd never lower in a listings search.
As featured in
The Herald
“Better prices for the consumer and improved margins for independent operators.”
Read the article →Built for business travel
Three reasons it works.
No booking fees and no markup. Hotels compete on what your trip actually needs.
Hotels compete for your trip
Real offers from real hotels, not the one fixed price every travel site shows you. Each one is built for your group, your dates and your brief.
Built for business needs
Breakfast, parking, a meeting room, an early check-in. Say what the trip needs and the hotels build it into the offer.
Free for business travellers
No booking fees, no markup. The hotel pays our commission when you book, never you. The price you see is the price you pay.
Run an independent hotel?
Ten founding places in Edinburgh. 10% commission, locked for life.
Private offers that never touch your public rates. You are paid at the moment of booking, in your bank within 7 days, not weeks after the guest checks out. And you get a direct line to me. We're signing Edinburgh's independents now.
FAQ
Honest answers.
Is it really free for me to use?+
Yes. Hotels pay us a commission only when you book through us. There's no listing fee, no booking fee and no subscription, for you or for them.
Is NovaBid live right now?+
Yes. The site is live, so you can post a trip today and be first in the queue. Hotels start bidding as soon as our founding Edinburgh cohort is live, and we're signing them right now. Verified hotels appear on the Partners page as they join.
How is this different from Booking.com?+
Booking.com is a search engine. You scroll the same prices as everyone else. NovaBid works the other way round. Hotels see your actual trip brief and come back with an offer built for it, often with breakfast, parking, a meeting room or a late checkout thrown in. You would never get that from a static listing.
Which hotels are on NovaBid?+
Independent hotels and independently-run groups. Never the chains. We're starting in Edinburgh and adding more UK cities over time. You can always see exactly who's on the platform before you post your trip on the Partners page.
What if I don't like any of the offers?+
Reject all of them. You haven't paid anything, no card has been charged, no booking exists until you accept an offer.
How fast do hotels respond?+
It depends on your dates. Bidding runs 4 hours for same-day trips, 24 hours for the next day or two, 48 hours within a week, and 72 hours when you're planning further ahead. Offers appear as they come in, so you're not waiting for the full window.
When do I pay?+
Only when you accept an offer. Posting a trip and getting offers back is free and card-free. You pay at the moment you pick a hotel, and never before.
What happens if my plans change?+
Cancel more than 48 hours before check-in and you're refunded in full. Within 48 hours, the payment stands and goes to the hotel. No-shows are treated the same as a within-48-hour cancellation.
Ready to try it?
Post your first trip. Five minutes, then relax