Short-term rentals, built on transparency
BowTel is a direct booking marketplace where every fee is visible, hosts keep their full rate, and every guest knows exactly what they're paying. No surprises. No fine print. Just honest stays.
Our vision
A world where booking a vacation rental feels as honest as renting from a friend.
Short-term rentals started with a simple promise: stay in someone's home, meet a real person, get a better experience than a hotel. The category drifted. Listings became inventory. Fees became a maze. Trust became a number on a profile. AI became a chatbot. BowTel exists to return the category to its best version — real hosts who keep their identity, guests who know what they're paying, hosts who keep what they earn, and intelligence that does real work for both sides.
What we promise
Six commitments that govern every BowTel decision
These are constraints we put on ourselves before they are claims we make to you. They survive every market we expand into.
1.Price is a promise
What we show is what we charge. The number on the search card matches the number you pay at checkout. Fees, taxes, and levies are surfaced before commitment — never at it. If a number changes between when you choose a stay and when you confirm it, we have failed.
2.A flat booking fee — not a commission
Most marketplaces take a percentage of every booking. When the host raises their nightly rate by fifty dollars, the platform's cut goes up too. We don't work that way.
BowTel charges a fixed booking fee per booking. Hosts capture 100% of every dollar they raise their price by. The card-processing line on your checkout is paid through to our payment processor to cover what they charge us — domestic, international, currency conversion, and debit-card differences across our guests' cards. We don't make revenue on it.
3.The host's name belongs to the host
When you book on BowTel, you book with a person — and you know who that person is. Their name, their storefront, their reputation, their voice in messages. Search results, detail pages, emails, and direct-booking links all surface host identity. We don't believe a marketplace earns its fee by erasing the people who supply it.
4.Every host welcome — one listing or one thousand
Whether you've never hosted before or you run twenty-three properties, BowTel is built for you. The product's capabilities scale with you — cohosting tools, AI advisors, multi-listing dashboards become more useful as your business grows — but the welcome is the same on day one.
5.AI does work, not theater
Aurora is BowTel's AI: a concierge for guests before and during a trip, and an advisor that helps hosts decide what to do next. Every Aurora feature has to answer one question before it ships: what did this save you? Minutes? Stress? A decision you had to make alone? If we can't quote a number, the feature isn't done.
6.Transparency over polish
A flaw shown beats a flaw hidden. We will tell you that the upstairs window sticks. We will tell you what a fee is for. We will tell you when something broke and what it cost you. We will lose a booking before we oversell a property. Our strongest brand asset is being trustworthy at moments that matter — not being convenient at moments that don't.
These commitments survive every country we enter. We won't soften them in exchange for a launch date or a percentage point of growth. That is the deal.
Transparent by default
Every fee, visible before you book
Here's what a typical booking looks like on BowTel. No hidden line items. No checkout surprises.
What guests see at checkout
Every line, no surprises
Every fee shown before you book. No surprises at checkout.
For hosts
List with confidence
You put in the work to make your property a great place to stay. BowTel gives you the tools to manage it, the visibility to fill it, and the certainty of keeping every dollar you earn.
Become a hostList for free
No subscription, no commission, no hidden fees. You keep 100% of your nightly rate. BowTel charges guests a small service fee — not you.
Full calendar control
Set availability, minimum stays, and preparation days. Sync with any iCal-compatible platform — your availability stays accurate everywhere.
A growing guest network
Guests build trust through reviews and booking history. The more people book, the stronger the network becomes.
Direct communication
Chat directly with guests through our built-in messaging system. Share check-in details, answer questions, and build trust — with no intermediary.
For guests
Book with clarity
See the full cost of your stay before you confirm. Communicate directly with hosts, and travel knowing every dollar was accounted for upfront.
Create an accountHonest pricing
All fees shown upfront before you book. A small service fee and processing charge — that's it. No checkout surprises, no hidden costs.
Listed with care
Every host on BowTel connects a verified payment account and agrees to our listing standards. As we grow, listing quality and host verification deepen with us.
Know your host
Host profiles show the information that matters — verification status, response time, and the story behind their listing. No guesswork about who you're booking with.
Book the way you want
Book instantly on eligible listings, or send a request and hear directly from the host — no automated systems in between.
Come stay. Come host.
Whether you have a property to share or a trip to plan, BowTel is the place where everything is exactly as it appears.