Meet Bedlet: The North Coast Start-up Taking On the Big Booking Sites

Years spent working alongside an established holiday-let team in Portstewart gave Gary Logue a close view of the work behind every successful stay: keeping availability accurate, handling guest communication, managing booking administration and ensuring properties were properly prepared.

That experience helped shape Bedlet, an early-stage holiday-let marketplace focused on accommodation in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Operated by BEDLETNI LTD, company number NI730149, the platform brings listings, booking requests, supported payments and on-platform communication into one connected workflow. The company is active and can be verified through Companies House.

Although its founder story begins on Northern Ireland’s North Coast, Bedlet is designed for properties on both sides of the border. The two jurisdictions are treated separately: Northern Ireland tourist accommodation requires current Tourism NI certification, while hosts in the Republic of Ireland remain responsible for the registration, planning, safety, consumer, and other legal requirements that apply to their property. Bedlet may request the relevant compliance information as part of its digital approval process.

Bedlet provides the marketplace and booking workflow; independent hosts provide and remain responsible for the accommodation.

Logue is a self-taught developer who works mainly in JavaScript and PHP, with practical digital design experience using Adobe tools. But the idea for Bedlet grew as much from his experience with holiday letting as from technology.

“I started Bedlet because I saw first-hand how much work independent hosts put into every stay, while high platform charges and fake social-media listings created frustration on both sides. I wanted to build a straightforward marketplace for Northern Ireland and Ireland where hosts stay in control, guests can book with greater confidence, and the whole booking journey stays connected in one place.”

Logue says two recurring issues shaped the platform: the cost of larger online travel agencies and the fragmented experience that can come with informal direct bookings.

For hosts, the first issue was cost. Fee structures on the larger platforms vary, but percentage-based charges can represent a significant amount on higher-value bookings. Bedlet instead publishes a fixed host acceptance charge, with no subscription or fee simply to advertise a property.

The second issue was the booking trail. Some direct bookings begin through Facebook groups or other social media channels before messages and payments are routed through separate services. Many such arrangements are legitimate, but the resulting records can be fragmented and there may be no marketplace support channel connecting the advert, conversation and payment.

Bedlet’s approach is to keep supported payments and on-platform communication connected to a booking reference.

It operates a request-to-book model. Sending a request does not confirm the stay or collect the accommodation payment. The host can accept or decline it, and an accepted request becomes confirmed only after successful guest payment and a final availability check.

Digital approval before publication

Bedlet supports both entire-property and private-room listings, including hosts who want to advertise an eligible spare room. However, submitting a listing does not make it immediately bookable.

The ordinary approval process includes a digital review of the listing and its compliance documentation. For Northern Ireland accommodation, Bedlet checks the details of the property’s current statutory Tourism NI certification before publication.

This is a documentary and digital review, not an in-person property inspection by Bedlet. Independent hosts remain responsible for their accommodation, the accuracy of their listing and compliance with the legal requirements applying to their property.

Before accepting booking requests, hosts must also complete the required Stripe Connect identity and payout setup. These financial checks help establish the person or business receiving funds, but they should not be interpreted as proof of property ownership, safety or the accuracy of every listing statement.

Once a property is live, supported payments and messages sent through Bedlet remain connected to the relevant booking record. This gives hosts and guests a clearer history than a booking arranged across an advert, separate messages and an unrelated payment transfer.

Reviews are also tied to Bedlet’s booking records. Only accounts connected to an eligible completed Bedlet booking can submit a booking-linked review, and only approved reviews contribute to public property ratings. This provides a clear connection between a review and a platform booking, although it does not independently establish physical attendance at the property.

Designed to work alongside existing platforms

Bedlet does not require hosts to leave Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo or their other existing channels. Hosts can import supported iCal feeds and use a private Bedlet export link to help coordinate availability across platforms.

Calendar feeds are not instantaneous because external providers control when updated information becomes available. Bedlet’s automated sync process runs on a recurring five-minute schedule and processes connected feeds in rotating batches. Hosts can also run a manual sync whenever needed.

These frequent checks help import updated availability promptly, but iCal is not a real-time system. Hosts therefore remain responsible for monitoring their calendars and preventing double bookings.

Sterling and euro listings

Hosts can choose pounds sterling or euros as a property’s listing currency. Nightly prices, cleaning charges, guest service fees, refundable deposits and booking totals are calculated and displayed in the selected currency.

For euro-denominated listings, the host-fee threshold is €350. The host acceptance charge itself remains £5 or £10 in Bedlet site credit rather than being converted into euros. General live euro checkout is being introduced through a controlled rollout.

The wider pricing model is straightforward. Hosts can advertise without a listing charge or subscription. A £5 acceptance charge applies when a host accepts a sterling booking subtotal below £350, rising to £10 at £350 or more. For euro listings, the same numerical threshold applies at €350.

Guests pay a 3.75% service fee when a booking is paid. The booking subtotal consists of the accommodation amount plus any cleaning charge; a refundable security deposit is excluded.

Hosts can stop advertising without a long-term platform commitment, subject to honouring existing bookings and resolving any outstanding obligations.

Putting the host charges in context

Bedlet’s published £500 comparison is specifically a host-side illustration.

Applying Airbnb’s 15.5% single-fee rate would produce a host fee of £77.50, while applying an assumed 15% Booking.com commission would produce £75. Bedlet’s host acceptance charge on the same subtotal is £10, creating an illustrated host-side difference of £67.50 or £65.

Those competitor figures are not universal. Airbnb documents different fee structures and is moving hosts towards its single-fee model, while Booking.com commission can vary by property and agreement.

Bedlet also charges the guest a separate £18.75 service fee on a £500 subtotal. Current charges and worked examples should therefore always be checked through Bedlet’s pricing page.

Safeguards without unrealistic promises

Bedlet makes clear that its digital checks, supported payment flow and booking-linked records are intended to reduce risk, not eliminate it.

The platform does not guarantee every user, listing statement or transaction. Its digital approval process is not a physical inspection, and Stripe’s identity and payout requirements do not independently verify a property.

Guests and hosts are encouraged to keep booking communication and payment within Bedlet, protect sensitive information and report anything suspicious. These measures are intended to make impersonation and fake listings more difficult while providing a clearer record if something needs to be reviewed.

Live and continuing to grow

As of 25 August 2026, Bedlet’s public browse page displayed 10 stays across locations including Belfast, Portrush, Coleraine, Bangor, Portglenone, Cushendun and County Westmeath.

More stays are being added as additional hosts complete onboarding and the digital approval process.

Bedlet remains an early-stage marketplace. Its proposition is a local focus, clearly published host charges and a connected booking workflow that can be used alongside the larger platforms. Its next test will be attracting enough hosts and guests to make that local marketplace increasingly useful on both sides.

Current listings, pricing and host information are available at bedlet.co, with published properties at bedlet.co/browse-properties.