Seaside Resort & Spa, a luxury chain with 3 beachfront properties in Miami Beach, was hemorrhaging 18% of every booking to OTAs like Booking.com and Agoda. They had no direct relationship with their guests. We built a branded direct-booking platform that shifted 67% of bookings to direct channels, built a loyalty program that drove 34% repeat rates, and saved $390K in OTA commissions annually.
3
properties
185
rooms
45,000+
guest Nights Yearly
$390K/yr
commission Saved
Seaside Resort operates 3 luxury properties along Miami Beach's Ocean Drive — a 5-star resort, a boutique spa retreat, and a family-friendly beach hotel. Combined, they offer 185 rooms and host 45,000+ guest nights annually. Despite their premium positioning, 82% of bookings came through OTAs. Seaside didn't own their guest relationships — Agoda and Booking.com did.
Seaside's OTA dependency wasn't just expensive — it was strategically dangerous. They had no guest data, no ability to remarket, and no control over their own brand experience. Every dollar spent on OTAs was a dollar not spent building a sustainable direct channel.
OTAs charged 15-22% commission on every booking. On $2.1M in annual OTA-generated revenue, Seaside was paying $378K in commissions — their single largest operating expense after payroll.
OTA bookings came with minimal guest information — often just a name and a Booking.com masked email. Seaside couldn't segment guests, couldn't send pre-arrival communications, couldn't build a marketing list. Every stay was a one-time transaction.
A guest booking through Agoda saw Seaside as just another option in a list of 50 Miami Beach hotels. The resort's premium brand story — award-winning spa, private beach, curated dining — was invisible. They were competing on price when they should have been competing on experience.
Without direct booking data, Seaside couldn't forecast demand, optimize pricing, or identify booking patterns. They were reactive price-setters in a market where dynamic pricing was table stakes. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) was 22% below comparable properties.
We built a luxury direct-booking platform that matched the premium experience of Seaside's physical properties. A visually stunning, mobile-optimized booking engine with dynamic pricing, upsell capabilities, and an integrated loyalty program — all powered by a unified guest CRM across all 3 properties.
Our Approach: We invested heavily in the visual experience — the website needed to sell the 'Seaside feeling' before a guest ever saw the beach. We commissioned professional photography and drone footage of all 3 properties, built immersive room galleries, and designed a booking flow that felt like browsing a luxury catalog rather than filling out a form. The loyalty program was built on a simple insight: guests who book direct should feel like VIPs.
Visually immersive direct-booking engine with 360-degree room tours, real-time availability, dynamic pricing, and a 3-step checkout optimized for mobile
Integrated upsell engine offering spa treatments, airport transfers, private dining, and local experiences during the booking flow — driving 22% higher booking value
Unified guest CRM across all 3 properties — single guest profile tracking preferences, stay history, communication history, and loyalty tier
Loyalty program with 3 tiers (Silver, Gold, Platinum) — points on direct bookings, exclusive rates, complimentary upgrades, and early check-in/late check-out perks
Automated pre-arrival and post-stay email sequences — welcome guides, spa booking reminders, and personalized return offers based on stay preferences
Revenue management dashboard with demand forecasting, competitor rate monitoring, and dynamic pricing recommendations
A phased approach ensured value delivery at every milestone — not just at the finish line.
Organized 3-day photoshoot across all 3 properties — 500+ photos, 12 drone videos, 18 360-degree room tours. Wrote 15,000+ words of property and experience descriptions. Built visual identity guide for digital presence.
Built real-time booking engine with Stripe payment gateway. Implemented dynamic pricing engine with seasonality, occupancy-based adjustments, and length-of-stay discounts. Integrated upsell module. Achieved 1.8s average page load on mobile.
Designed 3-tier loyalty program with points system. Built unified guest CRM consolidating data from PMS, booking engine, and historical OTA records. Implemented automated email sequences for pre-arrival, in-stay, and post-stay engagement.
Built guest portal for managing bookings, checking loyalty points, booking spa/activities. Added mobile check-in/check-out. Integrated with Seaside's existing PMS (Oracle Opera) for real-time room inventory sync.
Developed launch campaign: 'Book Direct, Save 10%' across social media, email (to 15K historical guest list), and Google Ads. Created SEO-optimized landing pages for each property. Set up conversion tracking and analytics.
Analyzed first 30 days of direct booking data. A/B tested pricing display, room photo ordering, and upsell placement. Optimized checkout flow based on drop-off analytics. Handed over with training and content management guide.
Every metric is independently verifiable. These aren't vanity numbers — they're business outcomes.
67%
Direct Bookings Achieved
Within 6 months of launch, 67% of bookings came through the direct channel — up from 18%. The visually immersive booking experience and 'Book Direct, Save 10%' campaign drove the initial shift. Loyalty perks sustained it.
$390K
OTA Commissions Saved Annually
The shift from OTA-dependent (82%) to direct-first (67%) booking reduced commission payments by $390K per year — effectively pure profit. The platform's total development cost was recovered within 9 months.
34%
Repeat Guest Rate
The loyalty program and automated post-stay engagement drove repeat bookings to 34% — more than double the pre-platform rate of 15%. Platinum-tier members booked an average of 2.8 stays per year.
22%
Higher Average Booking Value
The integrated upsell engine — offering spa treatments, dining, and activities during the booking flow — increased average booking value by 22%. Guests who booked direct spent 31% more on property than OTA guests.
“For years we paid OTAs a fortune and got nothing in return — no guest data, no loyalty, no brand presence. Now our direct channel is our biggest revenue driver. The platform paid for itself in 9 months. Everything after that is pure margin.”
Farhana Chowdhury
Owner & Managing Director, Seaside Resort & Spa
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