How Much Should I Charge for a Luxury Hotel Website I Built?

It’s difficult to give an exact price without seeing the site or knowing the local market. A project like this could be worth anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars depending on the quality, mobile responsiveness, booking features, content, performance, and whether you’re providing ongoing support. Estimate your hours, choose a fair beginner hourly rate, add the cost of any services, and present that as your project price.

Don’t price it only because it has 3D effects or looks impressive. A hotel website also needs to work well for visitors: fast loading, accessible on phones, easy navigation, accurate content, and possibly booking or inquiry functionality. Compare your work with local freelance rates and similar professional sites, then choose a realistic first-client price rather than charging an arbitrary amount.

For future projects, get a written agreement before doing significant work. Define the pages and features, number of revisions, delivery date, ownership of the code and assets, hosting responsibilities, and payment schedule. A common approach is to take a deposit before starting and the balance before launch. Free work can be useful for a portfolio, but it should be limited and agreed upon in advance.

The biggest issue is that the price should have been discussed before you started. Since you never clearly agreed to do it for free, explain what you built, how long it took, and what you’re offering. Give the owner a written quote for the completed work, along with separate prices for revisions, hosting, maintenance, and future updates. Be prepared for them to decline, but don’t hand over everything without agreeing on payment and usage rights.