NovaBid · Our story
Built by hospitality, for independent hotels
The “floor” in Edinburgh
Edinburgh became home in 2014, and I have spent my working life here front of house in the city’s grand hotels. I am French and British, and these days more Scottish than I expected. From the “floor” you see what the brochures do not: the corporate guest who arrived through a big site at a rate the hotel never chose, and the independent down the road that could have won that stay and never got the chance.
It always struck me as backwards. The traveller chases hotels, when the hotel should be coming to the traveller with its best offer for the exact trip they need.
Normandy
My grandparents ran a small hotel in Normandy. My father grew up in it. They lost it in the end: the big chains and the booking sites pulled their guests away, and a family hotel had no way to answer.
I grew up with that story. NovaBid exists to give independent hotels the fair shot they never had.
The seasons
I trained as a chef in France, then worked ski seasons in five-star hotels in the Alps. A full house for the whole winter, guests who notice everything, a team that lives together and holds the standard every single service.
Over the years I have worked alongside hundreds of colleagues from all around the world. That is where I learned what a hotel can be when it is run by people who care, and how thin the line is between a great season and a lost one.
The best hotels I have worked in were not the biggest. They were the ones where someone’s name was over the door.
So we turned it round
- 01Post the trip onceCity, dates, who is travelling, what matters.
- 02Independent hotels reply privatelyTheir own offer, their own price, nobody else sees it.
- 03Pick one, pay onceOne payment for the whole trip and one booking confirmation.
What we promise
To independent hotels
- Independents only, never the chains. A hotel with a name over the door is part of its town.
- Nothing to list, nothing to subscribe to: a commission only on a booking that has been paid, 10% for founding partners for life, 12% standard, plus VAT where applicable.
- The booking value belongs to the hotel. NovaBid remits it less commission: the transfer is initiated at booking, held in your own Stripe account, and paid to your bank once your free-cancellation window closes.
To the businesses that book them
- Free: no fee, no markup, the price you see is the price you pay.
- One request instead of an hour of tabs.
- One payment for the whole party and one confirmation for finance.
Where we are
We are at the start line, and happy to say so. We are signing the founding cohort of independent Edinburgh hotels now; businesses post from the day the fifth hotel is live, with away days to follow.
Edinburgh first, because it is home and because its independents have had a hard few years. Then the rest of the UK as the model proves itself, and one day France.
Who is behind it
I’m Thomas Mellot. Chef by training, front of house by choice, and the grandson of two hoteliers who deserved better. NovaBid is the thing I wished existed every time I watched a good hotel give its margin away.
I write these pages myself and use AI tools to check them; every fact is mine.
NovaBid is run by NovaBid Ltd, registered in Scotland, company number SC886622. Registered office: 5 South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh EH2 4AN.
As featured in
The Herald
The story behind NovaBid and its Edinburgh hospitality roots.
Read the article →Be part of the founding cohort
Independent hotels and the businesses who book them. The first ones in shape what this becomes.