Conversion-First Design: What Every Hotel Website Must Fix in 2025
In today's highly competitive hospitality market, a hotel's website is far more than a digital brochure. It is a key sales tool, brand ambassador, and often the first impression a guest has of your property.
This article covers common web design and content mistakes and offers practical solutions to improve conversions of your website and boost your online presence in 2025 and beyond.
Technical Foundations: Speed, Mobile, and Security
Ensure Fast Loading Time
Studies show that websites loading longer than three seconds experience significantly higher bounce rates. Many hotel sites still use large, uncompressed images or outdated booking engines that slow them down. Compressing images using modern formats like WebP and implementing lazy loading can speed up your site and improve guest retention.
Ensure Fast Loading Time— Source: Exely
Optimize for Mobile Devices
Over two-thirds of bookings in Asia come from mobile devices. Websites that are not fully responsive or hard to navigate on small screens lose potential revenue. That's why mobile-first design, with thumb-friendly buttons and simple booking steps, is extremely important. For example, some hotel groups saw nearly 20% more mobile bookings after making navigation easier to use.
Optimize for Mobile Devices— Source: Exely
Secure Your Site with Certificates
Security warnings scare off potential guests. Still, many hotel websites in CIS countries don't have proper SSL/TLS certificates. By automating certificate renewals and ensuring all third-party widgets use secure protocols, hotels can prevent browser alerts and build trust with visitors.
Secure Your Site with Certificates — Source: Exely
User Experience: Navigation, Booking Engine, and Scarcity Signals
Create Clear, Intuitive Navigation
Confusing menus make visitors give up. Research shows many hotel websites bury crucial information like room rates under multiple clicks. Using sticky menus with persistent 'Room Rates' and 'Special Offers' tabs helps guests find what they need fast and without hassle.
Integrate the Booking Engine
Booking engines that redirect guests to external pages or look different from the main site lead to lost bookings. Embedded booking widgets showing real-time availability and matching the website's style make the process smoother. For example, some hotels managed to increase booking by more than 30% after investing in a booking engine.
Use Genuine Scarcity Signals
Messages like 'Only 1 room left!' when plenty of rooms are available hurt trust. Synchronizing scarcity cues with PMS data makes urgency credible and encourages bookings without pushing guests away.
Content Strategy: Localization and Visuals
Localizate for Markets
Many travelers want to see prices in their local currency and read content in their local language. Offering geolocated content that switches currency and provides payment info based on where guests come from significantly improves user experience and boosts conversion rates.
Leverage High-Quality Visuals
Professional photos matter. According to the study, hotels that show more than 20 high-quality photos per room see up to 136% more bookings. Pictures help guests imagine their stay and often make them willing to pay more. Adding video tours and virtual walkthroughs further immerses visitors and deepens their interest.
How to Make Your Hotel Website Special
Even with a fast and easy-to-use website, standing out in crowded markets requires creativity. Here's how to make your property different.
Create Location-Specific Guides
Build free practical guides that solve guest pain points.
City hotels: Offer downloadable PDFs like '5 Hidden Cafés Locals Love' or 'Weekend Walking Tour Map.'
Beach resorts: Share guides on snorkeling spots, sunset views, or family activitie.
Example: A hotel in Baku increased bookings by 18% after adding a '24 Hours in Baku' guide with metro tips and restaurant highlights.
Highlight What Makes You Different
Most hotel websites use the same words like 'luxurious' and 'excellent service.' Instead, highlight what makes your hotel special.
Heritage properties: Share the building's history in a video.
Eco-resorts: Show certifications like Earth Check or Green Key and explain how guests support local communities.
Boutique hotels: Introduce staff, for example, with a 'Meet Our Chef' activity
Leverage Local Partnerships
Guests often book tours through others that you can offer yourself. Work with local businesses and share special deals.
Mountain hotels: Promote private hiking guides with lunch packs.
City hotels: Partner with museums for skip-the-line tickets.
Resorts: Offer discounted spa packages combined with nearby restaurants.
Conclusion
Improving your website's technical performance matters, but true success comes from creativity. Unique content, personalized experiences, and genuine local partnerships turn your site into more than a booking tool. They help you engage guests, build excitement, and earn loyalty. Focus on these elements to make your hotel stand out and attract more bookings.
At Exely, we specialize in creating hotel websites that combine effective conversion strategies with memorable branding. Whether you choose a template site or custom development, we make sure your website captures the unique spirit of your property.
Anna Belash
Chief Marketing Officer
Exely
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hospitality Net
10 hours ago
- Hospitality Net
Izzatbek Mambetov has been appointed Front Office Manager at 25hours Hotel One Central in Dubai
25hours Hotel One Central has announced the appointment of Izzatbek Mambetov as front office manager. With a decade of hospitality experience and a proven track record in guest satisfaction, Mambetov steps into his new role ready to elevate the guest arrival experience. In his new role, Mambetov will oversee all guest-facing operations, champion a high-performance team culture and help reinforce 25hours Hotel One Central as one of the city's most welcoming and surprising places to check in and switch off. Mambetov joins the team from Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Media City, where he held dual leadership roles as rooms division manager and previously front of house manager. Over his four-year tenure, he drove substantial improvements across guest satisfaction metrics, introduced new onboarding and feedback programs, led system migrations and helped push the property to regional performance highs — including increased Radisson Rewards enrolment and a leap in online reputation scores. His leadership was integral to the successful rollout of new systems such as EMMA and Fiori PMS, as well as initiatives that boosted F&B upselling revenue and public review scores on and TripAdvisor. Originally from Uzbekistan, Mambetov holds a Diploma in International Hospitality Management from the London School of Business & Finance in Singapore, where he also trained with Accor Hotels. He is fluent in English, Uzbek, and Russian and is known for his attention to detail, solution-focused mindset and people-first approach.
Hospitality Net
4 days ago
- Hospitality Net
CASE STUDY: How Texas A&M Hotel Improved Communications and Boosted Operational Efficiency with Maestro PMS and PurpleCloud
MARKHAM, ONTARIO, July 29, 2025 — The Doug Pictock '49 Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center sits at the heart of the Texas A&M campus, known for its striking glass towers and renowned service. To support its high operational standards and continue delivering exceptional guest experiences, the hotel sought to elevate internal communication and improve workflows — particularly in housekeeping, one of the most complex departments in hospitality. Hotel leadership turned to Maestro PMS and PurpleCloud Technologies to enhance collaboration, support staff, and unlock new efficiencies. The Opportunity for Growth: While the Texas A&M Hotel team already maintained strong service routines, they recognized opportunities to further optimize internal processes and eliminate inefficiencies stemming from disconnected legacy systems. For example, housekeepers were able to report work orders, but the system lacked detailed input options such as photo attachments or contextual notes. As a result, interpreting requests occasionally took longer, leading to delays and extra coordination among teams. These small communication gaps could add complexity to daily operations. Without real-time tools, room inspectors needed to make judgment calls with limited information, and frontline staff often had to physically visit the front desk for updates or clarifications — sometimes spending up to 10 minutes per trip. Despite the team's commitment and effort, the absence of an integrated digital solution meant important details could be lost in translation, making it harder to respond swiftly to evolving guest needs. Recognizing this, leadership at the Texas A&M Hotel prioritized upgrading to a modern, mobile-first technology platform that could better support their proactive service culture and reduce operational friction. The Solution: To solve these challenges, hotel leadership began searching for a mobile-first technology partner capable of providing continuity between departments through more dynamic communication tools. The hotel wanted to reduce traffic to and from the main office and enable its operations to take charge and respond to new developments. These desires led them to partner with Maestro PMS, enabling them to leverage the company's suite of All-In-One PMS capabilities alongside PurpleCloud's service optimization platform. Communication improved virtually overnight after the onboarding process, breaking down silos and boosting efficiency and team cohesion. 'Using Maestro PMS' GuestXMS, workers were able to quickly and easily report any issues or needs without breaking away from the task at hand, supported by expanded features offered through PurpleCloud's messaging platform,' said Margaret Legum, Senior Account Executive for Maestro. 'Housekeepers improved contact with the front desk and maintenance, and they could see how much time was spent cleaning each room. These features helped increase productivity and engagement with the property by enabling them to communicate more clearly.' One of the most critical elements of the combined efforts of Maestro PMS and PurpleCloud was the ability to send images to select individuals or departments. With a few additional prompts, team members could quickly build and deliver complete work orders without the need to describe most issues in full. 'PurpleCloud and Maestro have been wonderful partners, and I could not be more pleased with the performance of their technology and the relationship with our property,' said Greg Stafford, General Manager of the Texas A&M Hotel & Conference Center. 'These partners have given us the customization we needed in an easy-to-use software suite. It is great to see our rooms team so engaged and excited about using the joint system, particularly the built-in gamification tools and ease of work order creation. I truly believe Maestro PMS and PurpleCloud are a large reason why our guestroom satisfaction scores continue to rise. We recently reached a 96.6-percent satisfaction, and our productivity continues to improve.' Gamification is a strategic approach to improve a hotel's operations, efficiency, and worker satisfaction by drawing on employees' natural inclination to complete tasks that can be tracked and subsequently rewarded. Gamification strategies are more effective than traditional workforce management tactics because they provide an equal sense of levity and control to the work environment. When used properly, both workers and managers benefit from their availability. 'Creating and responding to maintenance requests has never been easier thanks to PurpleCloud's built-in work order function,' said Lacey Lewis, Director of Rooms at the Texas A&M Hotel. 'Using this, any employee can snap pictures and create a ticket that shoots right over to our engineers. On top of this, the gamification option makes efficiently cleaning a room and entering tickets fun and rewarding.' Gamifying a housekeeping worker's shift may involve ranking their time to clean a room or the number of rooms they complete across several shifts, giving them rewards for reaching specific milestones. Using their phones, housekeepers can track progress toward rewards and view performance dashboards directly from PurpleCloud, enabling any department to build toward unique long-term goals regardless of property size 'Gamification is often infectious,' said Adria Levtchenko, Co-Founder and CEO of PurpleCloud. 'It is not uncommon for one department's success with gamification to spill into others. When this happens, an entire property can benefit from a unified improvement process that benefits everyone through individual growth. This is much more than a reward system. It is a tool for constantly refreshing the core lessons that support hospitality while creating a more enjoyable work environment for hotel employees. Gamification helps associate a positive work environment with positive employee performance and goes a long way toward retaining workers in the long term.' Integrating Maestro PMS and PurpleCloud eliminated manual systems like paper-based boards used to track room status and guest requests. Now, all staff can access up-to-date information from their mobile devices at the start of each shift. The Result: Since implementing PurpleCloud, housekeeping boards now take only 20 minutes to create. Room inspections used to take 30 minutes and now take less than 10. And after one year of having PurpleCloud, the hotel saved close to 12% of its budgeted payroll. Likewise, the real-time visibility provided by Maestro PMS has improved the hotel's ability to manage room inventory and reduce overbooking, providing significant cost savings. The organization's 360-degree room analysis dashboard and reputation management tools allow hotels to thoroughly understand their property's performance while identifying areas for improvement. This visibility has also worked to raise accountability for each department, creating a culture of efficiency and satisfaction by breaking down the minutia of daily operations. 'We could not be happier with Maestro and PurpleCloud's product,' said Patti Culwell, Director of Operations at the Texas A&M Hotel & Conference Center. 'The software's ability to auto-assign housekeeping boards is robust and allows us to target our hotel's specific needs using an array of available filters. Using PurpleCloud, we can set a maximum number of room types assigned per room attendant and can filter by room type, such as double queens. Our team loves this feature.' Conclusion: Following the adoption of Maestro PMS and PurpleCloud, the Texas A&M Hotel saw an increase in operational efficiency, positively impacting every department. Maestro's full suite of All-In-One PMS features gave Texas A&M a balanced understanding of its operations while expanding its ability to interact with team members and guests. By working with Maestro PMS and PurpleCloud, the Texas A&M Hotel has optimized workflow processes, empowered hotel workers, and boosted overall productivity. The mutual collaboration instilled a newfound sense of efficiency and productivity in the hotel, ultimately enhancing the guest experience while reducing operational costs. PurpleCloud and Maestro offer game-changing technology that has helped the Texas A&M Hotel remain competitive in an evolving marketplace and set the standard for excellence in its competitive set. 'Thanks to PurpleCloud and Maestro PMS's support, the Texas A&M Hotel is more effective at managing many elements of our property, from payroll to minutes per room,' Culwell said. 'Their support and willingness to make their system work for our hotel's specific needs are impressive. They provide a greater level of support than what we experienced with previous providers. Every time we have requested new features, such as the ability to add, change, or write custom reports, we are always met with positivity — and they deliver results.' About Maestro PMS Maestro is the preferred Web Browser based cloud and on-premises all-in-one PMS solution for independent hotels, luxury resorts, conference centers, vacation rentals, and multi-property groups. Maestro's embedded payments system offers a PCI-compliant and EMV-ready enterprise system with 20+ integrated modules on a single database. This includes mobile and contact-free apps designed to enhance profitability, encourage direct bookings, centralize operations, and empower operators to engage guests in a personalized and secure manner. Maestro's Support Service further enhances the experience, providing unmatched 24/7 North American-based live support and education services. About PurpleCloud Technologies Headquartered in Atlanta, PurpleCloud Technologies is a privately held technology company that builds innovative software solutions and data analytics for the operations and management of lodging entities, including hotels, resorts, and vacation rentals. The company's PurpleCloud Service Optimization Platform can help hotel and resort operators achieve increased productivity and decreased labor costs especially in housekeeping staffing, one of the largest cost centers in most hotel operations. PurpleCloud also provides an enhanced customer experience; engaged and empowered employees; and next-generation analysis of operations data for internal strategy development. The technology is also applicable for casinos and cruise lines. Barb Worcester
Hospitality Net
21-07-2025
- Hospitality Net
Martin Riehl has been appointed Executive Chef at Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas has appointed Martin Peter Otto Riehl as its new executive chef. With more than four decades of global hospitality experience, Riehl joins the Saadiyat Island property following key roles across Asia's top Hyatt destinations. A certified master chef with formal training in German and French cuisine, Riehl most recently served as director of culinary operations at Grand Hyatt Macau, within the City of Dreams complex. Prior to that, he led the kitchens of Grand Hyatt Hong Kong and Grand Hyatt Guangzhou — both known for their high-volume, high-end F&B operations. During his decade-long tenure at Grand Hyatt Shenzhen, Riehl played a critical role in shaping the property's culinary identity while supporting Hyatt's growth in China as an F&B specialist for the Asia Pacific region. His résumé includes collaborations with renowned chefs and a reputation for nurturing culinary talent and rolling out refined, globally inspired menus. In his new role, Riehl will oversee all culinary operations at Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, including Mate Abu Dhabi, Beach House, and The Café. With his deep expertise in Chinese and international cuisines, as well as his track record in opening acclaimed culinary concepts, Chef Martin is poised to guide Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi's culinary program into an exciting new era, says the hotel.
