Concept Case Study: Boutique Hotel Group Website

Built to achieve

+30%

direct bookings target

4 cities

dedicated location pages

-£1000s

commission saved per year target

Project Goals

Harbour & Oak Boutique Hotels runs four character-led properties in Manchester, London, York and Edinburgh. Occupancy was steady, but too many bookings came through commission-based platforms. The goals were to:

Increase direct bookings
Reduce reliance on third-party booking sites
Strengthen the brand’s luxury positioning
Create a smooth mobile booking journey
Improve visibility in each city

Background & Challenge

The hotels offered a premium, memorable experience in person, but the website felt like a digital brochure.

With significant commission paid on third-party bookings, every guest who booked elsewhere reduced profit.

The website needed to become a revenue-generating asset.

Heavy reliance on booking platforms
High commission costs
Brochure-style website
Inconsistent storytelling across locations
Friction in the mobile booking journey

Our Marketing Approach

We rebuilt the site around a direct booking journey, backed by strong branding and dedicated pages for each city.

Mobile-first booking journey
Luxury brand design and storytelling
Individual location pages with local SEO
Direct booking incentives
Paid search for high-intent booking terms

Outcomes

More guests began booking directly, cutting commission costs and increasing profit per stay. Each hotel also gained stronger visibility in its city.

More direct bookings
Lower commission costs
Stronger luxury brand presence
Improved visibility in each city
Higher profit per booking

“We were handing a big slice of every booking to third-party sites. Now far more guests book with us directly, and the website finally feels like our hotels.”

Operations Director, Harbour & Oak Boutique Hotels

Project gallery

Concept boutique hotel group website homepage with booking bar

Concept boutique hotel website rooms and suites page

Concept boutique hotel website location page

Illustrative projection chart for a concept boutique hotel case study

Concept boutique hotel website book direct page

Want more direct bookings? Let's build a website that sells your rooms.

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Managing Director Cheshire

Our website was completely transformed. Not only does it look more professional, but we're receiving significantly more enquiries than before. The whole process was straightforward and the team really took the time to understand our business.

Business Owner

One of the things we value most is the commercial approach. Rather than trying to sell us every service available, they focused on where our budget would have the biggest impact. It's refreshing to work with people who genuinely want to help your business grow.

Director Professional Services Firm

Professional, knowledgeable and incredibly easy to work with. We saw improvements in both website traffic and enquiries within a matter of months.

Business Owner Construction Industry

Working directly with experienced marketers rather than account managers makes a huge difference. The advice is practical, honest and always focused on achieving results.

Private Doctor London

A Message from our Founder

After more than 20 years in digital marketing, I noticed a pattern.

Too many agencies were focused on processes, reports and growing their client list, rather than genuinely helping businesses succeed.

Clients were often passed between account managers, given generic advice and left wondering whether their marketing investment was actually making a difference.

I knew there had to be a better way.

Verve Digital was built around a simple idea: work with a select number of businesses, build genuine relationships and focus on delivering meaningful commercial results.

Rather than acting as an outsourced supplier, we become an extension of your team, providing strategic advice, hands-on support and honest guidance when you need it.

You focus on running your business.

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