Edinburgh business travel · NovaBid
How independent hotels win corporate bookings without an OTA
An independent hotel wins corporate bookings without an OTA by answering a company's specific trip with a private offer, priced for that night, paid at booking. NovaBid is the Edinburgh marketplace built for exactly that: a business posts its trip, independent hotels reply with private offers, the business picks one and pre-pays, and the hotel's share is released at confirmation and settled to its bank by Stripe, usually within seven days. Independents only, by rule.
Hands-on Edinburgh service opens 12 October 2026. The self-serve platform follows. See the launch plan.
How can an independent hotel get direct corporate bookings without paying OTA commission?
Three routes work for independents: a corporate rate agreed directly with local companies, a booking engine on the hotel's own site, and a reverse marketplace such as NovaBid where companies post their trips and hotels reply with private offers. The first two depend on the company already knowing the hotel. The third brings the company's brief to the hotel: it sees the dates, guests and budget, sends one private offer, and pays a commission of 10% as a founding partner or 12% standard only if the booking is paid. Nothing is charged for offers that are not chosen.
The booking pattern we hear about
The business traveller never rings the desk any more. The company's office manager searches a booking site, sorts by price, and the hotel that wanted that Tuesday filled is never asked. Independents lose corporate bookings they would have priced sharply, to a screen.
Every rate on a booking site carries the site's own cost, and the hotel cannot make a different offer to a good repeat customer without touching its public price. The private offer that used to be made over the phone has no channel.
Corporate bookings made through consumer sites arrive as leisure bookings: no company name, no invoice details, no idea whether the guest will be back next month. The hotel cannot build the relationship it is paying for.
Cash arrives late. On most channels the hotel is paid after checkout, sometimes weeks after, and a no-show on a pay-at-hotel rate is the hotel's loss. Prepaid corporate stays reverse both.
How NovaBid fixes it
01
A company posts its trip
City, dates, number of guests, budget per night, and what matters to them: parking, breakfast, a meeting room, flexible cancellation. Only verified businesses can post. You are emailed the moment a brief in your city goes live.
02
You send one private offer
Room type, your rate for those nights, inclusions and cancellation terms, and whether the visitor levy is included. It takes about two minutes and nobody but that company sees it. Your public rates are untouched.
03
They book, you are paid at booking
The company compares offers side by side and pre-pays the one it chooses. Your share, less the commission, is released to you at that moment, and Stripe Connect settles it to your bank on its own schedule, usually within seven days. Guest details arrive by email, and into Mews once our connector is certified.
Pricing
10% commission for founding partners, 12% standard. Only on a paid booking.
No listing fee, no subscription, no charge for offers that are not accepted. Your share is released at the moment of booking, and Stripe settles it to your bank usually within 7 days.
Frequently asked
What does NovaBid cost a hotel?
A commission on paid bookings only: 10% for founding partners, locked for life and limited to ten properties, or 12% standard. No listing fee, no subscription, no charge for offers that are not accepted, and no payment fees passed on.
Is a private offer a problem for my contracts with booking sites?
NovaBid gives no view on any hotel's contracts, and you should check your own. What we can say is what the product does: an offer on NovaBid is made privately to one named business for one specific trip, is never published anywhere, and does not change any rate you show publicly.
Which hotels can join?
Independent hotels and independently owned groups. Chains and international groups are not admitted, by rule, because central revenue management cannot make the kind of offer this channel is built for.
How much business will I get?
We will not promise volume. NovaBid is live in Edinburgh with its founding cohort being signed now, and demand is built company by company. What we promise is that every brief you answer is a real, verified business trip, and that you pay nothing unless you win it.
What about no-shows and cancellations?
Stays are prepaid. Cancellations more than 48 hours before check-in are refunded to the business in full; inside 48 hours, and for no-shows, the hotel keeps its payout.
Do I need new software?
No. Briefs arrive by email with a link; the offer form is on the web. Hotels on Mews will have reservations created automatically once the connector is certified. Everyone else gets the booking by email with the guest details and a note that the stay is prepaid.
Written by Thomas Mellot, founder of NovaBid. He trained as a chef in France and worked front of house in Edinburgh hotels, as Chef de Rang at the Caledonian and the Balmoral. He built NovaBid after watching independents lose business travel to platforms that never set foot in the building. More about NovaBid.
Last reviewed 8 September 2026. We correct these pages when the facts change; tell us if something here is wrong.
Answer one brief and see
Register, get verified, and the next business brief in Edinburgh lands in your inbox. Send one private offer. If it is not chosen, it costs you nothing.
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