Direct Online Bookings • WebRezPro

Direct bookings are the backbone of an independent hotel’s website and business. Not only are they commission free, driving higher profit, they allow the property to collect critical information (email, phone number, etc.) required to form a relationship with the guest, boosting loyalty. 

With a robust booking engine like WebRezPro’s, properties can also offer upsells and add-ons, making it easy for guests to enhance their stay. Keep reading for an overview of the latest version of WebRezPro’s direct online booking engine and how its conversion-driving features enable your property to improve the guest experience and bottom line. 

WebRezPro’s online booking engine is customizable to your property’s brand colors, logo, and images, creating continuity between the booking engine and website. This is important for demonstrating professionalism and credibility and gaining the guest’s trust.

WebRezPro’s booking engine allows you to select a background image and upload multiple images to create slideshows for each unit type. You can set images to display on a seasonal basis, with cozy snow photos in winter and sunny lakeside shots in summer. Alt text can be added to each image, which improves accessibility and SEO. 

Lastly, you can—and should—add your property’s social media links in the footer to increase guest engagement.  

WebRezPro’s booking engine looks great and works seamlessly on mobile with easy access links to all functions, including availability calendars, amenity and room configuration filters, and the availability search. A convenient summary at the top of the booking form shows key reservation information, such as check-in/out dates, room and rate type, cost, etc. 

Mobile accounts for more than half of all web traffic as of 2023 and 35 percent of online travel bookings, so a mobile-friendly booking engine is critical. Even those guests who don’t reserve via mobile probably do research there.

With WebRezPro, guests can select additional products, amenities, and services when they reserve a room. When selected, these add-ons (we call them reservation options) appear in a pop-up modal containing information about the offer, available selections, and images to really sell it. You can choose between a variety of formats, including checkboxes, dropdown menus, radio buttons, text inputs, and more.

Upsells are a lucrative source of revenue for accommodation providers. Only 68 percent of hotel revenue is generated by the rooms themselves, leaving another 32 percent that originates from ancillary services such as food and beverage, spa, etc. 

Guests are more likely to take advantage of these options if it’s easy. With WebRezPro, it couldn’t be easier! 

WebRezPro’s booking engine comes with two integrated availability calendars, one for the property itself and one for each room type. The property availability calendar shows two weeks’ availability, including the number of available beds and maximum capacity for each unit type. Room availability calendars display two months’ availability with the ability for guests to advance to future months. Both calendars show CTA/CTD restrictions and any minimum length of stay. 

These calendars are useful for guests who can be flexible with their dates, especially if your property has limited availability. If the dates right before or right after the guest’s original choice are available, the calendars will let them know. The calendars can also be turned off as needed. 

It’s easy for guests to find exactly what they need with WebRezPro’s room and amenity filters. Standard filters show basics such as capacity, air conditioning, pet friendliness, etc. However, properties can also create their own customized filters to promote specific features. For instance, if you want to highlight your ocean view rooms, you can do that here. 

Flexible amenity features not only help guests choose their ideal room, they enhance your property’s unique selling proposition. 

The “Notices” box is great for getting important messages across to guests. In addition to displaying your property’s check-in and check-out times, you can enter custom messages, for example, advising customers the pool is closed or reminding them to check out your specials. 

Guests can choose to view search results in three different formats—by room type (tile format), via a pop-up calendar, or on a bookable map. The default room type view in tile format shows a photo or slideshow, available rates, calendar links, room amenities and accessibility, the number of units left, and more. Displaying the number of units left creates urgency and encourages the guest to book. 

In addition to flexible, modern search results display options, WebRezPro includes many other strategies to drive conversions. For example, discounts are highlighted with strike-through pricing, drawing attention to special offers. The booking engine can also be set to return close match results that don’t meet the guest’s criteria but that they may still be interested in. This helps snag bookings if guests are flexible. 

Guests can log in to access their reservations via the My Reservations portal. This portal shows current, upcoming, past, and waitlisted reservations in addition to guest agreements, activity reservations, and gift vouchers. 

The portal supports guest loyalty and is convenient for everyone involved. Guests can check reservation information or modify their bookings without having to call the front desk. 

Simplifying payments for both guests and staff, WebRezPro integrates with your preferred payment gateway for seamless, automated payment processing. Payments are collected at the time of booking either through WebRezPro’s own payment processor, WebRezPay (US customers only), or through a payment gateway integration such as Heartland, Stripe, or Tenerum. When guests pay upfront, it speeds up the check-in process and enables self check-in.

A robust, user-friendly online booking engine is key to boosting your property’s bottom line. Improve your channel mix and increase direct bookings with the latest version of WebRezPro’s commission-free booking engine, built to drive conversions and repeat business.