Booking brings guests, but it steals the relationship
A boutique hotel in Maremma paid 18% commission to Booking.com. 8-year-old Wordpress site. No direct relationship with returning guests. We helped them take it back.
Client: Hotel Le Vele, Castiglione della Pescaia (Tuscany), 12 rooms
12 rooms, breathtaking location on the Tuscan coast. Always full — but 96% of bookings came from Booking.com with 18% commission. The Wordpress site was old, slow, voiceless. Returning guests came back through Booking. The owner had no mailing list, no direct channel. Booking had become his landlord.
The solution
01
Next.js site + pro photographer shoot
12 pages, mobile-first, Lighthouse 95+. Half-day photo shoot. EU hosting, no more Wordpress breaking on Easter.
02
PWA app for direct booking
Stripe Connect integrated, instant confirmation. Returning guests installed the app, book there, no Booking in between.
03
Punta Ala App integration
Their guests discover 6 partner restaurants via in-room QR. The hotel earns €3 per generated booking. Zero cost.
Tech stack
- Next.js 15 + React Server Components
- Stripe Connect
- Booking.com channel manager
- Punta Ala App API
- Hetzner Storage Box (EU)
Results
- 31%bookings now direct (zero commission)
- +€8,400monthly margin recovered
- 78direct-guest NPS (was 52 via Booking)
“Booking brought us bookings but stole the relationship. Now guests come back to us.”
— Anna, owner
Illustrative example — simulated results based on realistic scenarios and the technical capabilities of our stack. Real cases coming autumn 2026 with our first pilot clients.