Bokea: direct bookings for lodging, the case of Miguel and Central House

Bokea manages bookings for hostels, hotels and guesthouses from the side of whoever runs them, not of whoever is looking for a place to sleep. It was born from a real case: Miguel's.

The case: Miguel and Central House

Miguel runs Central House, in Breña, Lima: 11 rooms, all sold through Airbnb. His problem was twofold:

• Fees. Around S/ 3,000 a month went to the platform's commissions.
• A storefront that doesn't sell. Most domestic traffic arrives through Google and WhatsApp, and bounces off an Airbnb listing designed to showcase hosts, not rooms.

His phrase sums up the product: "Airbnb, but for hotels, not for people": one owner, many rooms, and everything geared to search, book, check in and out, charge and report.

How we solved it, step by step

1. A storefront of your own. Public pages for each lodging and room, with photo gallery, map, amenities and house rules, a WhatsApp button and short addresses like bokea.app/r/… that are easy to share.
2. No double bookings. Bokea imports the dates blocked on Airbnb (iCal) and publishes each room's calendar for Airbnb to read. You sell on both sides without clashes.
3. Direct booking and payment. Guests book with a calendar and pay with Mercado Pago, with Yape or Plin (uploading the receipt) or in cash with a booking held for 24 hours. If a payment is refunded, the booking corrects itself.
4. Day-to-day operations. Miguel's requests of 1 October shaped the rest:
   • Today: the day's arrivals and departures, with check-in/check-out in one tap.
   • Guest register, which is also a legal obligation in Peru.
   • Status of each room (clean, occupied, to clean).
   • Staff with roles: reception and housekeeping see the calendar without seeing prices or payments.
   • Guest requests and incidents as tasks, with email and push alerts.
   • Change room, extend or shorten a stay, and charge an extra guest only for the nights they stay.
5. Prices and quality. Prices per room and per night, offers, two-way reviews, and a monthly summary of what was collected and what is pending.

Miguel's answers set concrete rules: shortening a stay keeps the original prices, extending it charges only the new nights, and Airbnb guests' documents are optional because he trusts what the platform already verified.

Where it stands

Bokea is online at bokea.app with Central House Breña and another lodging in San Juan de Lurigancho. It is a young product with one real client, and it installs as a phone app, with notifications. The goal of the second phase is measurable: every booking that arrives direct is a commission Miguel no longer pays. We are still measuring how much that adds up to.

The competition

There are two kinds of rivals:

• Portals, like Airbnb and Booking: they bring guests, but charge commission and the customer is theirs.
• Property management systems and channel managers, like Cloudbeds, Beds24, Lodgify or Little Hotelier: powerful and built for the international market.

We don't want to replace the portals, but for you to stop depending only on them. Bokea bets on what matters in Peru: Spanish, soles, Mercado Pago, Yape and Plin, WhatsApp, guest registration and a price within reach of an 11-room hostel.

Why book direct

• Every direct booking saves you the commission.
• You know your guest: their contact, their history, their review, so they come back.
• You control prices, rules and payment, and no third party decides for you.
• One calendar for all channels.

If you have a lodging, list it on Bokea or tell us how you work. To send a newsletter to your past guests see Mailerball.