Guide · Pricing

Child rates for your holiday rental: how to make age-based pricing actually bookable with Smoobu

Updated 9 September 2026 · Approx. 8 min read · with interactive family price calculator

Why a single nightly price rarely fits families

If you host families (and in the Alps, on the coast and anywhere holiday apartments are generously sized, they are the key audience), you know the dilemma: a price per apartment is too high for a couple or too low for a family of five. That is why so many houses have always charged per person, with a graduated child rate: adults pay full, school children a reduced rate, toddlers sleep free in the cot.

This model is not just tradition, there is a sober reason behind it. Families compare offers carefully, and mostly find it unfair to pay the same supplement for a two-year-old as for an adult. A visible child rate shows: families are budgeted for here, not merely tolerated. The reverse is true as well: a flat “up to 4 guests” price leaves revenue on the table with every couple who books the apartment alone.

What Smoobu's help article on the booking system says

First things first: BineBoost does not replace Smoobu. Your calendar, your channel connections and your guest communication stay where they are today, BineBoost only sits in front of them on the official interface. Smoobu's help describes the booking system that comes with it like this: the guest picks travel dates, books and pays; it is embedded with a small piece of code on any page where HTML can be inserted, and every account also has a standalone booking page of its own (as per Smoobu's help, as of September 2026).

Smoobu’s help also covers the guest selector: for every guest field in the booking form you can decide whether it is optional, mandatory or hidden, and you choose whether guests give a total number or adults and children separately (as per Smoobu's help, as of September 2026). That is a head count, not a pricing rule: the fact that a child is counted says nothing about what it costs.

On pricing by age the help article says nothing. A host wrote on 9 August 2026, under Smoobu's own help article on the booking system, that price groups for different age groups cannot be set there (retrieved 9 September 2026). That is one user's view, not product documentation. For many rentals it makes no difference. But if you charge per person by age, you end up taking detours in practice, and every one of them costs bookings:

• “Price on request”: the family is supposed to call or email. Some do. Most book where the final price is shown instantly, usually on a portal, with commission. The commission calculator shows what that costs you over a year.
• Children pay adult prices: the total looks too high for families, and your most important audience bounces.
• Flat rate “up to X guests”: couples pay the same as large families. Revenue given away, and still no fair family price.
• Correcting afterwards: the family books at adult prices and you refund manually. It works, but looks unprofessional, and your booking flow shows a wrong, inflated price until the very end.

How to set up child rates by age band

BineBoost is a booking engine that connects to your Smoobu account via API key and takes over pricing by age. Smoobu stays your channel manager and PMS, the booking flow sits on your own website and can be matched to your website's design. The child-rate model behind it is deliberately simple:

1. Your Smoobu nightly price stays the base: it is treated as the price for standard occupancy (usually 2 adults). Nothing changes in how you maintain prices in Smoobu. BineBoost reads the daily rate through the official interface, which returns price, minimum stay and availability per day (measured 9 September 2026).
2. On top you define child age bands, each with its own price per child per night, for example ages 3 to 9: €25, ages 10 to 15: €40.
3. €0 is explicitly allowed: a band “ages 0 to 2: €0” means toddlers stay free, and are not counted as an extra guest in the occupancy surcharge.
4. Optionally add a single-occupancy adjustment: if just one adult travels, the nightly price is reduced by a fixed amount (e.g. −€60/night).

This is what it looks like in the settings. Each row is one age band, and the rule can be assigned per property:

What the guest sees: ages first, the right price instantly

The crucial difference from every workaround: the booking flow asks for children by age band, right in the guest selector, before the first price appears. A family with a seven-year-old and a baby picks “2 adults, 1 child (3 to 9), 1 child (0 to 2)”, and every price shown is the true final price from the first second. No asterisk, no surprise at check-in, no correction email afterwards.

It is common practice to itemise every line; whether your price display and your terms meet the requirements where you are is best checked by a lawyer. In the price summary, every age band therefore appears as its own line, so the guest can follow the total:

Run your own numbers

Enter your figures. The calculator works exactly like your booking flow will: nightly price for standard occupancy, child rates per age band on top, toddlers free, surcharge only for additional adults.

And in Smoobu? Itemised as if entered by hand

When the family books, BineBoost creates the reservation directly in your account through the official Smoobu API, with every component as its own price item: accommodation price, one child line per age band (e.g. “1× ages 3 to 9 at €25”), occupancy surcharge or single-occupancy reduction where applicable, plus tourist tax and fees. BineBoost changes nothing about your calendar or your channel connections, and no commission is charged on the booking.

One exception we measured, and we write it down so it does not surprise you: a down payment amount passed to Smoobu by a connected booking flow is replaced by Smoobu with its own rule. A security deposit amount that is passed along stays as it is. Measured on 12 August 2026: €4.56 sent, €86.00 in the calendar afterwards. If the down payment matters to you, check the rule in Smoobu before you go live. What the family pays up front and what applies if they cancel are covered in the guide on down payment and cancellation terms; have your own terms checked by a lawyer before you publish them.

Pricing models compared

The Smoobu column draws on Smoobu's own help article on the booking system and the public host comments below it, retrieved 9 September 2026. Where nothing is documented there, this table says “not publicly documented”; that does not mean the feature is missing. Details may change.

Tourist tax, breakfast & co.: children handled correctly everywhere

Child pricing does not end with the accommodation price. Two more places where age matters, both fed automatically by the same guest selector:

• Tourist tax: in many municipalities children up to 14 or 15 are exempt or pay a reduced rate. BineBoost has its own age bands per tax rule: the tax is charged only for the guests your band covers. How to show tourist tax correctly.
• Breakfast: here too there is a separate child price, or children eat free while adults pay per person per night.

The guest enters the ages once; accommodation, tax and breakfast then each apply their own limits. Maintaining that interplay by hand is tedious and error-prone. Which rate applies where you are is something your municipality tells you, and how you book the tax belongs with your tax adviser.

Practical tips for your child-rate model

• Two or three bands are enough. Proven: ages 0 to 2 free, 3 to 9 reduced, 10 to 15 slightly higher. From 16 the adult price applies. Every guest understands that without a footnote.
• Keep the “adult” threshold consistent. If your tourist tax counts adults from 15, your accommodation model should not start at 12, otherwise the price is harder to explain.
• Write “toddlers stay free” where people see it. It costs you almost nothing (a cot), but young families notice it immediately: on your website, in portal listings and in enquiry replies. It is one of the simpler levers for more direct bookings.
• Mention the cot and high chair. A €0 rate looks even better when it is clear the equipment is thought of too.
• Recalculate once a year. When your nightly price rises, child rates should grow with it, otherwise the ratio tips and large families end up unintentionally subsidised.

Frequently asked questions

Can the Smoobu booking system handle age-based child rates?

That is not publicly documented. Under Smoobu's own help article on the booking system, a host wrote on 9 August 2026 that price groups for different age groups cannot be set there (retrieved 9 September 2026). That is one user's view, not product documentation. If you want child rates by age, you need a layer in front of Smoobu for it, for example BineBoost on the official Smoobu API.

How do I let toddlers stay free without counting them as an extra guest?

Create an age band “0 to 2 years” at €0. Children in this band stay free and do not appear in the occupancy surcharge. They are of course still counted in the guest selector, so the number of people stays correct.

How many age bands make sense?

Two or three work well in practice: toddlers free, school children reduced, teenagers slightly higher. More bands make the price list harder to read without adding meaningful revenue.

Does a booking with child rates arrive cleanly in Smoobu?

Yes. The reservation is created through the official Smoobu API with individual price items: accommodation, one child line per band, surcharges, tourist tax, fees. BineBoost changes nothing about your calendar or your channel connections. One exception we measured: a down payment amount passed to Smoobu is replaced by Smoobu's own rule, while a security deposit amount stays as it is (measured 12 August 2026).

Does this work together with child exemptions from tourist tax?

Yes. Tourist tax and accommodation have separate age bands fed by the same guest selector, so a child can be reduced for the stay and exempt from the tax at the same time. There is no single age limit for the exemption, your state and your municipality set it: in many places children up to 14 or 15 are exempt, elsewhere they pay a reduced rate. Which rule applies where you are is something your municipality tells you; how you book the tax belongs with your tax adviser.

What does it cost?

BineBoost costs €9.00 per month for the first property and €5.25 for each additional one, 10 per cent cheaper when paid annually, plus VAT in each case. All pricing rules are included, there is no commission per booking, and you can try it for 7 days without a credit card.