Guide · Pricing

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

Updated 24 July 2026 · Approx. 8 min read · with interactive family price calculator

Why a single nightly price scares families away

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, it is smart price psychology. Families compare offers very carefully — and simply find it unfair to pay the same supplement for a two-year-old as for an adult. A visible child rate signals: families are budgeted for here, not merely tolerated. The reverse is true as well: a flat “up to 4 guests” price gives money away with every couple who books the apartment alone.

What Smoobu does well — and where the standard case ends

First things first: Smoobu is an excellent channel manager. Calendar sync, channel connections, guest communication — that is what it is built for, and it does it reliably. In the booking tool for your own website, Smoobu covers the standard case: one nightly price, optionally a surcharge per additional guest above a certain occupancy.

What this model does not cover is the age dimension: child age bands with their own price are not part of it — a child counts as a guest like any other. For most rentals that is perfectly sufficient. 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.
• 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 adds the pricing logic the standard widget lacks. 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; seasonal rates keep working as before.
2. On top you define up to four child age bands, each with its own price per child per night — for example ages 3–9: €25, ages 10–15: €40.
3. €0 is explicitly allowed: a band “ages 0–2: €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 (3–9), 1 child (0–2)” — and every price shown is the true final price from the first second. No asterisk, no surprise at check-in, no correction email afterwards.

In the price summary, every age band appears as its own line — transparent for the guest, defensible for you:

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 3–9 at €25”), occupancy surcharge or single-occupancy reduction where applicable, plus tourist tax and fees. The calendar blocks immediately, sync to Booking.com, Airbnb & co. continues unchanged — and in Smoobu you see at a glance how the booking value is composed. No commission is charged.

Pricing models compared

Statements about built-in features to the best of our knowledge, as of July 2026 — 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 supports separate age bands per tax rule — the tax is only charged for guests who actually owe it. 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 exactly this interplay by hand is practically impossible to keep error-free.

Practical tips for your child-rate model

• Two or three bands are enough. Proven: ages 0–2 free, 3–9 reduced, 10–15 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.
• Actively advertise “toddlers stay free”. It costs you almost nothing (a cot), but for young families it is a genuine booking argument — on your website, in portal listings and in enquiry replies.
• 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 tool handle age-based child rates?

No — as of July 2026 it knows one nightly price per occupancy and, optionally, a surcharge per additional guest, but no age bands. A child counts like an adult. For age-based child rates you need an add-on built on the official Smoobu API, such as BineBoost.

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

Create an age band “0–2 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 and on the registration form.

How many age bands make sense?

Up to four are possible; two or three are ideal in practice. 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 API with individual price items — accommodation, one child line per band, surcharges, tourist tax, fees. Calendar and channel sync continue as usual.

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. Children can be reduced for the stay and fully exempt from the tax at the same time.

What does it cost?

BineBoost starts at €9/month for the first property; each additional one costs less — all pricing rules included, no commission per booking. The 7-day trial is free and ends automatically.