Case study — Hospitality · Travel
A direct-booking engine and guest app for a boutique hotel group operating across four countries.
Client
Boutique hotel group
Scope
Booking engine · Guest app · Engineering
Timeline
5 months
Footprint
22 properties · 4 countries
01 — Challenge
Third-party booking sites owned the guest relationship — and took a cut of every reservation.
Most reservations arrived through OTAs, which meant the group paid commission on guests it could have kept direct with the right experience.
Guests had no digital touchpoint with the brand between booking and arrival, so loyalty never had a chance to build.
02 — Approach
PHASE 01
Research
Audited the booking funnel and guest journey across all 22 properties.
PHASE 02
Design
A booking flow and guest app designed to make direct booking the easier choice.
PHASE 03
Development
Built the booking engine, guest app, and revenue dashboards as one connected system.
PHASE 04
Rollout
Rolled out property by property, starting with the highest-OTA-dependent locations.
03 — Solution
Built for the workflow
01
Direct-booking engine
A booking flow fast enough to compete with OTAs on convenience, not just price.
02
Guest mobile app
Pre-arrival, in-stay, and post-stay touchpoints that extend the brand beyond the front desk.
03
Revenue dashboards
Live visibility into booking mix and revenue across every property.
04
Loyalty & brand integration
Loyalty status and offers built into the same app guests use to book.
StackReact NativeNext.jsTypeScriptPostgreSQLStripeAWSTwilio
04 — Outcome
34%
Shift from OTA to direct bookings
22
Properties live
4
Countries
2.8x
Guest app engagement
“We finally have a relationship with the guest before they ever check in.”
Group Revenue Manager — Boutique hotel group