If you’ve been in hospitality for a while, you’ve probably felt the shift. A decade ago, OTAs (online travel agencies) like Booking.com and Expedia were the default growth engine for hotels. They brought in bookings, handled the marketing, and opened up your property to an international audience you might not have reached otherwise.
But here’s the thing – that convenience comes at a cost. Literally.
Commission fees have quietly eaten away at profit margins year after year. In many cases, that’s 15–25% of the booking value gone before the guest even arrives. And on top of that, OTAs own the customer relationship. They have the data. They decide how your property is presented. They can (and do) push competing hotels right alongside yours.
In 2025, hotels can’t afford to give away that much control. That’s why your own website – built right, marketed efficiently, optimized thoroughly – can and should be your strongest sales channel. It’s the one place you have full control over your brand, your offers, and your guest relationships.
The Profit Center Hotels Undervalue
You know it already. Every booking that comes through your website instead of an OTA saves you money. And not just the commission.
A direct booking means you get the guest’s contact details immediately. You can send them a pre-stay email suggesting upgrades, packages, or services they might enjoy. You can encourage them to join your loyalty program so they come back next year. You can even use post-stay follow-ups to prompt reviews or referrals.
On OTAs, all of that is filtered or restricted. They control the communication. You just get the guest when they walk through the door.
The difference in lifetime value can be huge. A guest who books direct, enjoys a tailored stay, and gets added to your mailing list might book again and again. A guest who books through an OTA might never even remember your hotel’s name – just that they “stayed somewhere in Barcelona” last summer.
The Way Travelers Research Has Evolved
Travel booking today isn’t linear. People bounce between platforms. They discover you in one place, check your brand in another, and book on yet another.
Here’s a pretty typical 2025 behavior pattern,
- Someone’s scrolling Instagram and sees a reel about “10 best boutique hotels in Bali.”
- They click through to Google, search your hotel’s name, and see you listed on Booking.com.
- They skim reviews on TripAdvisor to make sure you’re legit.
- Then they land on your website – not to browse, but to judge.
This last step is where the battle is won or lost. If your site feels slow, clunky, or outdated, they click back to the OTA tab they still have open. If it’s modern, fast, and clearly better than the OTA’s version, you’ve got them.
And here’s the kicker: Google’s Hotel Pack search feature is now pushing users to websites that load fast and are mobile-friendly. If your site doesn’t meet those criteria, you’re not just losing conversions, you’re losing visibility.
Your Website Tells the Story OTAs Can’t
An OTA gives you a box to fill: room sizes, amenities, price, maybe a blurb. Every hotel gets the same layout.
On your own site, you can tell your story in full. You can show video tours of your suites. You can highlight your farm-to-table breakfast. You can tell guests that your rooftop bar hosts live jazz every Thursday night.
Take The Ned in London. Their site isn’t just about rooms. It’s about the feeling of staying there – the multiple restaurants, the members’ club vibe, the Art Deco interiors. The website builds a mood that an OTA listing simply can’t.
That’s the advantage. OTAs sell rooms. You can sell experiences. And experiences are what modern travelers are actually buying.
The Mobile Booking Imperative
Here’s a statistic that surprises many hoteliers: A significant number of travelers in 2025 plan and research trips on their phones. And over 50% of direct bookings for independent hotels now happen on mobile.
If your mobile site is just a squished-down version of your desktop one, you’re losing sales. Buttons need to be tappable without zooming. Images should load instantly, even on 4G. Your booking form should take less than 60 seconds to complete.
We’ve tested this with clients – just improving the mobile booking experience can boost conversion rates by 20–30%. That’s without changing pricing or running more ads.
Pricing Freedom and Flexibility
When you sell on OTAs, you play by their pricing rules. You can adjust rates, but you can’t easily create custom packages or incentives that go beyond a simple discount.
Your website, though, is your playground. Want to bundle a “romantic getaway” package with champagne on arrival? Do it. Want to run a secret “locals only” rate for off-season weekends? Go for it.
One boutique hotel in Goa we worked with ran a “Work from Paradise” package – a week-long stay with breakfast, free Wi-Fi, and a daily yoga class. It barely made sense to list that on an OTA. But on their own site? It became one of their best-selling offers.
Owning Your Data is Owning Your Future
Data sounds boring until you realize how powerful it is. With an OTA, you get the booking details but not much else. With your own site, you can see everything:
- Which pages guests linger on
- Which packages get the most clicks
- Where in the booking flow people drop off
This lets you fine-tune your offers and page layouts. It also lets you retarget people who visited your site but didn’t book – maybe with a small discount or reminder email.
This is how e-commerce brands operate. Hotels can (and should) be doing the same.
The Case for a Custom-Built Hotel Website in 2025
Templates have their place. But in a competitive market, a cookie-cutter site can be a quiet revenue killer.
Custom-built hotel websites are designed around guest psychology. They use smart navigation, quick-loading galleries, and booking flows that feel almost invisible – because they’re so seamless. They integrate with property management systems. They’re built for conversion, not just for looks.
At our hotel website design company, we’ve helped hotels replace outdated “brochure” sites with high-converting booking platforms. The result? Lower OTA dependency, higher direct revenue, and a clearer brand identity that actually sticks with guests after they leave.
Hotel Website Can Do More Than Sell Rooms
A great hotel website isn’t just a booking engine. It’s a hub for your brand.
- Showcase upcoming events (wine tastings, live music nights)
- Share local travel guides to attract search traffic
- Feature guest stories or testimonials
- Allow people to buy gift vouchers online
- Enable live chat for instant booking assistance
These extras not only generate more revenue but also deepen the guest relationship.
The Hybrid Approach Still Wins
This isn’t about cutting OTAs out entirely, but you need to keep up with the travel trends. OTAs are still valuable for discovery, especially for new or small hotels. But once a guest finds you, your goal should be to guide them to book direct – now or next time.
That’s where your website does the heavy lifting. It’s your digital front desk, your brand’s home base, and in many cases, your most profitable channel.
In 2025, the thriving hotels aren’t just the ones with the nicest lobbies or the best TripAdvisor scores. They’re the ones controlling their sales channels, nurturing guest relationships, and treating their websites like revenue-generating assets – not just online brochures.
If your hotel website hasn’t had a serious update in years, now’s the time. Because the truth is, every month you delay, you’re leaving money (and guest loyalty) on the table.
And the beauty is, the technology to do this right – fast, mobile-first, integrated with your PMS – is more accessible than ever. You just need the right partner to build it.
