Online Upgrade Yields Uptick in Direct Bookings

The Richmond Hotel, located on the beach in the heart of Miami’s South Beach, has been owned and operated by the same family since 1941. Allan Herbert, co-proprietor along with his wife Patricia, personally developed the hotel’s digital marketing to ensure the property’s rich history and unique style was captured.

 

“I wanted complete control over our website because it’s such an important marketing tool; I didn’t want a third-party managing it. For a long time we were fine to just have a website, but as our guests started using smartphones for booking and wanting to connect with us on Facebook, I knew I had to find software that could handle everything and still let me keep control,” explains Herbert.

 

Among Herbert’s list of “must-have” components, the most important facet was being able to ensure that the new website would be visible and easily found on search engines using PCs, Macs, smartphones or tablets. buuteeq emerged as the hotel Internet marketing solution to maximize conversions and drive incremental bookings.

 

“Our occupancy rate has increased 20% -- from 60% to 80% -- using buuteeq. We now have more direct bookings through our website than from GDS (Global Distribution System) because it provides our guests with all the information they need to plan their visit,” Herbert explains.

 

Herbert utilized buuteeq’s Back Office and created the new website within a week. When updates to the site are made, they are immediately seen by the guest regardless of what device they are using to find and ultimately book with the Richmond. “Our return on investment, in both money and my time, has been extraordinary,” Herbert exclaims.

 

buuteeq’s 360 Analytics generates intuitive reports that provide clear up-to-date visitor, conversion and booking summaries across web, mobile and social channels. “Right now our conversion ratio is 61%,” Herbert enthuses. “With the analytics reports, I can easily identify under-performing pages and quickly change them. I fully expect that ratio will continue to rise,” he predicts.

 

Allan Herbert plans to incorporate buuteeq’s hotel reservation software in the near future. “We’re so proud of what we’re done with our property and now we have a platform on which to tell our story,” Herbert adds.