💬 Guest article by Yolanda Sedano, Senior Business Development Manager for Southern Europe and the Caribbean at Profitroom
As part of our Profitroom Talks series, Yolanda shares insights from her work with hotels across Spain and the Caribbean, highlighting how too many rate plans, not enough clarity, and outdated booking flows are silently costing hotels direct revenue. If your website has more options than your guests can process, this article is for you.
If your hotel’s direct bookings are lagging, let me ask you this: When was the last time you tried booking a room on your own website? Not as a revenue manager or marketer—but as a guest?
Because the truth is, many hotels are unintentionally overwhelming their guests with choice. And when things get confusing? The guest bounces. Usually straight into the arms of an OTA.
Confusion just equals conversion loss. I see it every day when working with hotels across Spain and the Caribbean. This isn't just a UX issue. It's a revenue issue, and one that's particularly acute in highly saturated markets.
In Spain — where I'm based — competition among hotels is fierce, especially in coastal areas with heavy seasonal demand.
Spain invented leisure tourism. We're a very historical market, but also a very tech-forward one. The first booking engines were invented here, so hoteliers know tech, but that also means they've been using legacy systems for years.
These legacy platforms often encourage hoteliers to create endless permutations of room types and rate plans: refundable vs non-refundable; long-stay vs early bird; bed & breakfast vs half-board vs all-inclusive… often multiplied across multiple booking windows or guest segments.
Sometimes when I do website audits, I'll open up the booking engine and see rows and rows of different rate plans: 10 or 12 choices for what should be one simple stay. While these options may make sense operationally or from a revenue management perspective, presenting them all at once to the customer can backfire.
I advise my clients clearly: show no more than three to five rate plan options at any given time. The human brain doesn't absorb more than that. After five options, it becomes noise.
When faced with this overload of information, guests don't dig deeper — they check out entirely. Clients think: "I don't know what I'm trying to book. This is too complicated… let me go see what Booking.com has."
OTAs win by doing two things extremely well:
Hotels need to reclaim both if they want their direct channels to compete effectively.
One way hotels can simplify without sacrificing revenue? Reframe how you present value.
"Bed & breakfast" sounds functional – but call it "romantic sunrise experience" or "honeymoon breakfast", and suddenly it's emotional. It's still bed & breakfast... but now you're selling an experience.
Rather than listing everything line-by-line (e.g., late checkout + welcome drink + spa access), use storytelling language that connects with why someone would want those things in the first place: relaxation after stress; reconnection with loved ones; celebration after achievement.
This approach works even better when combined with smart upselling post-booking. Give people clear base packages upfront, and then offer enhancements gradually, baby steps, so it feels intuitive rather than pushy.
But to do this well, you need data that goes beyond spreadsheets.
Most hotels use data to report on past performance. That’s backward. We need to stop using data for reporting and start using it for forecasting. Not what did they book—but why did they book?
Understanding this intent allows hotels to refine which offers appear first in different contexts (e.g., mobile vs desktop), fine-tune naming conventions based on performance data ("romantic escape" might convert better than "premium king"), or even automate segmentation logic so returning guests only see relevant offers from step one.
But this only works if your tech stack talks to itself, which isn't always guaranteed:
Right now most hotels use separate PMSs… separate channel managers… separate CRMs. It's fragmented, and that stops them from knowing their guests well enough.
At Profitroom, we've responded by building an integrated platform where all guest data lives in one hub from pre-booking behaviours through post-stay feedback, enabling hyper-personalised journeys without increasing manual workload on staff teams already stretched thin during high season peaks.
With over 70% of bookings now taking place on mobile devices (and rising), frictionless design is simple survival logic.
Today's guest doesn't scroll—they swipe. They expect an Amazon-like experience: fast-loading pages... personalised suggestions... clean layouts... no-brainer navigation.
If your UX isn't optimised end-to-end for mobile behaviour? You've already lost them.
The goal isn't just speed, it's reducing cognitive load so each next step feels obvious rather than effortful. Fewer clicks = higher conversion = happier teams who aren't constantly chasing abandoned carts via email remarketing campaigns later down the line.
Ironically, much of this simplification work exists not just to keep people glued to screens—but to get them off screens faster so they can enjoy their trip sooner. We need purpose-driven digital journeys. You want someone booking on their phone while commuting home from work, and then putting it away feeling excited about what's coming next.
When done right?
That moment: the shift from transaction mode into anticipation, is where loyalty begins forming before check-in even happens.
My advice for hotel marketers tired of watching OTAs dominate direct sales is straightforward:
Because ultimately?
A better booking experience isn't about more options: it's about presenting fewer choices more meaningfully.
And that's exactly where simplicity starts selling harder than ever before.
Watch Yolanda’s Profitroom Talks episodes — 3 short, impactful videos, packed with real strategies to simplify the guest journey and drive more direct bookings.
Sign up once to unlock the full series.