7 Ways to Grow Ancillary Revenue at Your Hotel or Hostel
Ancillary revenue is the money your property earns beyond the room rate — tours, experiences, food and drink, late check-out, and more. For independent hotels and hostels, it’s often the difference between a good month and a great one.
The best part: most of it doesn’t need more staff. It needs the right offer in front of the guest at the right moment. Here are seven ways to grow it.
1. Sell local experiences and tours
Guests are already booking tours — the only question is whether they book through you. Integrations with GetYourGuide, ExperienceOz and Blys let guests book experiences from their phone, and you earn commission on every booking. No stock, no risk.
2. Offer late check-out and early check-in
The simplest upsell there is. A guest with an evening flight will happily pay for a late check-out. Surface it on their phone the morning of departure, not at the desk when it’s too late.
3. Run events and ticketed gatherings
A rooftop session, a walking tour, a wine night. Events with Stripe ticketing turn your common areas into revenue and your property into a place guests talk about. This works especially well for hostels.
4. Add a bar tab or food ordering
If you serve food or drink, make it orderable from the room or the courtyard. Removing the “go find someone” step lifts spend per guest.
5. Partner for spa and wellness
You don’t need a spa to sell wellness. In-room massage and treatment partners let guests book from their phone, and you take a cut — no treatment room required.
6. Curate paid local guides and add-ons
Your local knowledge has value. Self-guided walking tours, curated maps and themed itineraries can be offered as paid add-ons that cost you nothing to deliver once they’re built.
7. Make it all one scan
Here’s the multiplier: every idea above earns more when it lives behind a single QR code the guest already has open. Friction kills ancillary revenue. When booking a tour or extending check-out takes two taps, guests do it. See how to set up a hotel QR code system guests actually use.
The honest part
Ancillary revenue isn’t about squeezing guests. It’s about offering things they already want, at the moment they want them. Done well, it makes the stay better and the month stronger at the same time.