Swirt clued me in to
www.1and1.com and I pay about $60 per year for my hosting. I do most updates to my web site. If it is major, I do have to contact my web designer but that is because I left the computer world almost 20 years ago. At that time I was in the mainframe world - PCs are a totally different animal.. $4000 is ridiculous. ReservationKey for online booking is also affordable and great..
I'm also with 1and1, have been for years. I pay about £120 a year, but then I've got a business account which allows me SQL databases, PHP and other fancy stuff, so I can run my own property management software.
I too left the mainframe world to run this place, Cobol, CISC, IMS, DB/2 ?
If you feel confident enough and have the time/inclination I think it's worth having a go at building your own website. Not just for the cost saving, but to have total control and to be able to make changes whenever you want is worth it. 1and1 have a website building package, although I've never used it. We have friends with a B&B, no professional computer experience but they have a lovely website built with a package. search seren dipi tygl enmo ris ton.
I use Dreamweaver which is a professional package, it does everything, but it's complicated and expensive (although a fraction of the annual charges you've quoted). I sat by the pool on holiday a couple of years ago reading "Dreamweaver" and "PHP and Mysql" for Dummies books, I got a few strange looks like "What's he doing reading stuff like that on holiday"?, but hey, it interests me.
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