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How Courtyard by Marriott Delray Beach Grew Direct Bookings in 3 Months
A new property competing against established Delray Beach and Boca Raton hotels, with no direct booking strategy. Here’s how we changed that.

The Challenge

The New Property in a Crowded Market

Courtyard by Marriott Delray Beach had everything going for it. A strong brand name. A great location. Modern amenities. But it was the new property in a market crowded with established hotels that had spent years building their reputation and their booking base across Delray Beach and Boca Raton.

Worse, the property had no direct booking strategy. Like many hotels, they were almost entirely dependent on OTAs to fill rooms. That dependency came at a cost. Every booking through an online travel agency meant handing over 15 to 30% in commissions, eroding margins on every single reservation.

They needed two things at once. Visibility to compete against hotels that travelers already knew, and a direct booking engine that could reduce their reliance on OTAs and keep more revenue in house.

The challenge was speed. As a new property, they could not afford to wait six months for organic momentum to build. They needed measurable results fast, in a competitive South Florida market that does not hand them out.

The Strategy

A Multi-Channel Campaign Built to Drive Direct Bookings

Geo-Targeted Google PPC

We launched geo-targeted paid search campaigns to capture travelers at the exact moment they were searching for hotels in Delray Beach and the surrounding area. We chose PPC as the foundation because search captures high-intent travelers who are actively planning a trip, not just browsing. By bidding strategically on direct booking keywords and routing traffic to the property's own booking channel rather than an OTA, we put Courtyard in front of ready-to-book travelers while keeping commissions out of the equation.

Meta Advertising

We built targeted social campaigns across Meta to drive awareness and demand among travelers who had never heard of the property. Meta was essential here because as a new hotel, Courtyard needed to build visibility fast against established competitors. We used location targeting, travel intent signals, and behavioral data to reach potential guests planning South Florida trips, then retargeted engaged users with booking-focused creative to convert interest into reservations.

Refreshed Organic Social Content

We rebuilt the property's organic social presence with fresh, scroll-stopping content that showcased the amenities, the experience, and the local Delray Beach lifestyle. We knew that travelers research a hotel's social media before booking. A dated or inconsistent feed costs bookings. We produced a content library that made the property look as good online as it does in person, reinforcing every paid touchpoint and giving prospective guests confidence to book direct.

Creative That Converts

Here’s what most hotel ads get wrong. They show you a room. A bed, a nightstand, a flat-screen TV bolted to the wall. The same room every other hotel is showing. Nobody books a trip because they saw a nice nightstand. We took a different approach with Courtyard by Marriott Delray Beach. We sold the experience, the amenities, and the Delray Beach lifestyle waiting outside the lobby doors. Refreshed content built to stop the scroll and convert travelers at the exact moment they were ready to book. Because when your creative makes someone feel the trip before they take it, they stop comparing prices on an OTA and book direct.

Measurable Growth That Reduced OTA Dependency

5:1

Average Return on Ad Spend

15%

Growth in Direct Bookings

$541

Average Booking Value

379

Direct Bookings Over 3 Months

Why it Worked
A new hotel in a crowded market has one disadvantage and one advantage. The disadvantage is obvious. Nobody knows you yet. The advantage is that you are not carrying years of bad habits, dated creative, or a booking strategy built entirely around handing commissions to OTAs.

We used that to our benefit. Instead of trying to out-spend the established hotels in Delray and Boca, we out-positioned them. And our edge came from something most agencies do not have: a deep understanding of South Florida tourism. We know which feeder markets travel to South Florida, and more importantly, when they come. Snowbirds from the Northeast, summer travelers from Latin America, weekenders from within the state. Each market moves at a different time of year, and each one responds to different messaging.

That knowledge let us target the right travelers in the right markets at exactly the right moment in their trip planning, encouraging travel and driving bookings when those audiences were actually ready to book. Geo-targeted search captured them at the moment of intent and sent them straight to the property’s own booking channel. Meta built awareness fast among travelers who had never heard of the property. Refreshed social content gave them a reason to trust the brand before they booked.

The result was not just more bookings. It was more direct bookings at a higher average value, which means more revenue staying with the hotel instead of going to an OTA. That is the difference between marketing that fills rooms and marketing that actually grows a hotel’s bottom line.
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Case Studies

Frequently
Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about working with us and how we help South Florida businesses grow.

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We work with independent boutique hotels, franchise properties, and resort groups of all sizes. The Courtyard by Marriott Delray Beach campaign was a franchise property, but our strategies adapt to any hotel type. We build around your specific property, market position, and booking goals, not a one-size-fits-all template.
We build direct booking strategies using geo-targeted paid search, Meta advertising, email marketing, and refreshed organic content to drive travelers to your own booking channel. Every direct booking saves you 15 to 30% in OTA commissions. For Courtyard Delray Beach, this approach drove 379 direct bookings in just 3 months.
Courtyard by Marriott Delray Beach saw measurable growth in direct bookings within 3 months. Paid search and social campaigns typically show early results within the first 30 to 60 days, with momentum building as the campaigns optimize. Most hotel clients see meaningful booking impact within the first 90 days.
Google Hotel Ads and metasearch platforms are the highest priority for direct booking conversion. Pair those with Meta ads for awareness, email for retention, and a strong Google Business Profile for local visibility. The right mix depends on your property type, price point, and target traveler segment.
Engagements are scoped based on your property, your market, and the channels that will drive the most direct bookings. Every engagement starts with a strategy consultation so we can recommend the right investment level for your specific situation. We do not offer packages because no two hotels are the same.
Yes, and those engagements often produce the strongest results. Courtyard by Marriott Delray Beach was a new property with no direct booking strategy when we started. With no bad habits or dated campaigns to undo, we built everything correctly from day one and drove 379 direct bookings in 3 months.
We bring deep South Florida tourism expertise that most agencies do not have. We know which feeder markets travel to South Florida and exactly when they book, so we target the right travelers at the right moment. We focus on direct bookings and revenue, not vanity metrics like impressions and reach.
We measure what actually grows your bottom line. Direct bookings, return on ad spend, average booking value, and reduction in OTA dependency. For Courtyard by Marriott Delray Beach, that meant a 5:1 ROAS and 379 direct bookings in 3 months. We do not report on impressions or reach unless they connect to revenue.