Property & Healthcare
Direct Bookings Overtook Third-Party Channels for the First Time
Three boutique hotels at £280-650 per night were putting 68% of bookings through OTAs at 15-22% commission, £340K a year. The website converted at 0.8%. We rebuilt the experience from scratch. Direct bookings overtook third-party channels for the first time.
What We Were Solving
Three boutique hotels positioned at 280 to 650 GBP per night had 68 percent of bookings through OTAs at 15-22 percent commission, costing 340K GBP annually. The template website had a 71 percent bounce rate, 47-second average session and 0.8 percent direct booking conversion. Guests who did book directly called reception rather than using the website, indicating a lack of trust in the online experience.
Our Strategic Approach
We designed an immersive experience communicating luxury from the first interaction. Full-bleed photography with cinematic scroll animations creates emotional connection. Each property has a micro-site with room galleries, area guides and seasonal content. The booking flow mirrors a concierge experience: select dates then personalise your stay. A best-rate guarantee module displays OTA comparison prices in real time. Performance was paramount with sub-second loads despite heavy visual content.
Deliverables
- Bespoke immersive web experience with cinematic animations
- Individual property micro-sites with room galleries
- Two-step direct booking flow with personalisation
- Real-time OTA price comparison module
- Seasonal content management for promotions
- Mobile-optimised for 62% mobile traffic
- Schema.org Hotel and LodgingBusiness structured data
- Sub-second load despite rich visual content
Project Timeline
Brand Immersion
Visited all three properties. Worked with marketing on visual direction. Designed architecture for booking conversion.
Design and Build
Bespoke design system, cinematic experience, property micro-sites, GSAP animations with performance optimisation.
Booking and Rate Comparison
Direct booking flow, OTA price comparison, seasonal content and mobile refinement.
Performance and Launch
Sub-second optimisation, structured data, analytics and staged launch with A/B testing.
Measurable Results
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