Micazu: the Dutch platform that makes booking holiday homes a more personalised and transparent experience

A Dutch family-run business with over 13,000 holiday homes worldwide connects guests directly with property owners, with no booking fees

Whilst the major booking platforms are increasingly acting as intermediaries between travellers and holiday home owners, the Dutch company Micazu has consciously chosen to go in the opposite direction: direct booking with the owner, with no booking fees for the guest and with personal contact as its guiding principle. With more than 13,000 holiday homes worldwide, this family-run business demonstrates that it is possible to grow without becoming anonymous; personal contact is, and always will be, at the heart of what they do.

A Dutch family-run business with its own staff

Micazu was founded in 2010 and is wholly Dutch-owned. The company is based in The Hague, is not listed on the stock exchange, has no foreign investors and no anonymous shareholder structure. Micazu encourages personal contact between tenants and landlords. In addition, tenants can always count on the support of the Micazu team. The staff know the platform and the holiday home sector inside out and can be contacted by telephone, chat and email in five languages.

This is what sets Micazu apart from most booking platforms, where contact is handled via chatbots or external call centres. At Micazu, personal contact is not an extra service, but at the very heart of how the platform works.

Personal contact and transparency

On Micazu.nl, holidaymakers can refine their search using more than 300 filters: from a fenced-off swimming pool and an outdoor kitchen to a charging point. A filter for Dutch holiday periods has recently been added, allowing families to search specifically for available accommodation during the autumn, Christmas or summer holidays, by region.

That may sound like a minor detail, but for the millions of Dutch people whose holidays are tied to the school term, it is a significant improvement. It makes planning a holiday quicker and easier to organise.

A different perspective on the holiday home market

In recent years, the holiday home market has increasingly been dominated by large, international platforms that act as intermediaries between travellers and letholders. Booking fees have risen, personal contact has been replaced by chatbots, and letholders have less and less control over how their properties are presented and priced.

Jens van den Broek, managing director of Micazu, sees this as a missed opportunity. In his view, it is precisely the direct contact between tenant and landlord that sets a holiday home booking apart. That personal touch (tips from the owner, bespoke arrangements, trust that grows through direct contact) is what many travellers are looking for, but can no longer find on the major platforms.

On the platform, hosts post their own adverts, after which guests book directly with them without any booking fees; Micazu only charges hosts once a booking has been confirmed. This direct model ensures that guests can ask the owner questions in advance, and that hosts know exactly who they are dealing with.

“We believe that booking a holiday home can be surprisingly easy, without having to sacrifice personal contact,” says Jens. “On the major platforms, everything is automated. We’ve made a conscious choice to let tenants and landlords communicate directly with one another. That builds trust on both sides, and you can see that in the experiences people share with us.”

That trust is reflected in the ratings: the platform now has more than 18,000 reviews on Trustpilot and Google, with an excellent average score of 4.7 out of 5. Tenants particularly highlight the clear website, the comprehensive filters, the smooth communication with landlords and the quick booking process.