Here’s a familiar story. A guest finds your hotel on a booking platform. They like the look of it. Then, being sensible, they visit your own website to find out more.
What happens next decides whether you keep the commission or hand it over.
Too often, the guest finds the same photographs, a vaguer version of the same description and a booking button that sends them somewhere else. So they go back to the platform they started on, where at least everything’s in one place.
Your website had one job: to give that guest a better reason to book with you. Usually, the words are where it falls down.
Nobody arrives on your website by accident
Guests who reach your own website are already interested. They’ve seen the price and the reviews. They’re not asking “is this a hotel?” They’re asking “is this the right hotel for me, this time?”
That’s a more specific question, and it needs more specific answers. Whether the rooms at the back are quiet. Whether there’s parking, and what it costs. Whether the restaurant is somewhere you’d want to spend an evening or just somewhere to have breakfast.
A booking platform can’t answer those questions well. You can.
Generic descriptions send guests back to the comparison sites
Read the room descriptions on a dozen hotel websites and you’ll find a dozen “stylish, spacious rooms with every modern comfort”. The phrase tells a guest precisely nothing.
If your own website sounds like every listing on the platform, there’s no reason to stay on it.
Specific details do the work that adjectives can’t. The room overlooks the harbour. The bath is big enough to lie down in. The windows open. The breakfast includes eggs from the farm down the road. These are the things guests remember, mention in reviews and use to choose between two otherwise similar hotels.
Answer the questions people are too busy to ask
Most guests won’t email to ask whether there’s a lift, how far the station is or whether the dog can come. They’ll simply book somewhere that tells them.
Good hotel website copy anticipates the practical questions:
- How do I get there, and where do I park?
- What time is check-in, and can I leave my bags?
- Is the hotel accessible?
- Are children and dogs welcome?
- What’s included in the price, and what isn’t?
None of this is glamorous. All of it makes booking easier. And every question you answer clearly is one less reason to check the booking platform instead.
Give people a reason to book with you, not just at you
If booking direct really is better, say so, and say why. A better rate, a free upgrade when available, flexible cancellation, breakfast included, an early check-in. Whatever you can genuinely offer.
Then put it where people will see it: near the booking button, not buried in the small print of a “special offers” page that nobody finds.
The words matter here too. “Best rate guaranteed” has been said so often it barely registers. “Book direct and breakfast is on us” is shorter, clearer and rather more tempting.
Make the booking button the easy part
It’s remarkable how many hotel websites make booking hard work. The button hides at the bottom of a long page. The booking engine opens in a new window with different branding. The final screen asks for information nobody explained.
Copy can’t fix a clumsy booking engine. But it can reassure people at each step: what happens next, what they’ll pay, when they’ll pay it and how to change their plans. Uncertainty is the moment people go back to what they know.
Sound like the place, not like a hotel
Finally, the hardest part. Your website should sound like your hotel.
A family-run inn in the Dales shouldn’t sound like a city-centre business hotel, and neither should borrow language from a five-star resort. Guests choose independent hotels for their character. If the words have none, there’s little reason to choose you over the chain down the road.
That doesn’t mean being whimsical. It means writing the way you’d describe the place to a friend: honestly, specifically, and with a little pride.
A quick checklist for your own website
- Does every room description include at least one detail a guest couldn’t get from the photographs?
- Are the practical questions (parking, access, check-in, pets) answered on the page, not in an FAQ nobody reads?
- Is there a clear reason to book direct, and can people see it near the booking button?
- Would a regular guest recognise your hotel from the words alone?
If the answer to any of those is no, the good news is that it’s fixable. And it costs rather less than the commission.
I’ve written for hotels and hospitality groups including Marriott, Hilton, CitySuites and Travelodge. If your website could be working harder, see how I help hospitality businesses or get in touch.