Hospitality · UX Strategy · Web Design
How understanding a growing hospitality business's operations led to a phased product strategy instead of an expensive first release.
Client
Ronne Stays
Serviced apartments & villas, North Goa
My role
UX Consultant
Product Strategy · UI/UX · Web Design
The ask
"A site with a booking engine"
To cut OTA commissions
What I delivered
A phased strategy
Conversion-led site, booking engine deferred
01 Overview
Ronne Stays offers serviced apartments, villas and vacation stays across North Goa. They approached me for a full hospitality website with an integrated booking engine.
The reasoning was sound: reduce dependence on OTA platforms and intermediaries that took a commission on every booking. At the same time, the business was mid-rebrand and wanted a stronger digital presence to match.
Before designing the interface, I wanted to understand how bookings currently happened, how enquiries were managed, and how the business operated day to day, so we could judge whether a booking engine solved the right business problem before committing to build it.
02 Discovery
Discovery phase was mainly stakeholder conversations and a structured review of the operation itself: booking workflows, enquiry channels, operational processes, the current digital presence, business constraints and growth plans. The aim was to have a clear picture of how a stay moved from first contact to confirmed booking.
What I found: most properties were already being filled through four working channels. The acquisition engine already existed, it just wasn’t fully theirs.
Channel 01
OTA Platforms
Steady visibility and booking volume with a commission paid on every single booking.
Channel 02
The discovery layer. Guests found properties here and reached out for more details.
Channel 03
Where enquiries were handled and bookings closed. The operational centre of the business.
Channel 04
Agents & Referrals
Travel agents and word-of-mouth referrals bringing trusted, repeat business.
03 The reframe
The client wanted a website with an integrated booking engine. The conversations around it pointed to something broader; what the business needed this stage of its growth to achieve.
Stakeholder conversations revealed the fuller objective: reduce dependency on OTA platforms, strengthen the brand, increase direct enquiries and invest in proportion to the company’s current stage of growth. A booking engine was one possible answer, and a significant commitment in cost and operational complexity.
So I reframed the brief into a question worth answering:
04 Strategy
Rather than investing lakhs immediately in booking infrastructure, I proposed sequencing the investment, validate direct demand first, and let evidence decide when the booking engine earns its place.
01
Build the foundation
A professional website that supports the rebrand, improves discoverability, showcases the properties and builds trust guiding every visitor toward a direct enquiry through WhatsApp or a phone call rather than a third-party platform.
02
Learn from real demand
Monitor website traffic, enquiry volume and visitor behaviour to see how many guests discover and contact Ronne Stays through the site. This validates whether the website becomes a meaningful direct acquisition channel before any further spend.
03
Scale when it's earned
If the evidence supports it, the booking engine arrives as the next phase on a foundation that is already working. Sequencing the investment this way reduces implementation risk while the business grows into it.
05 Rationale
Why this was
the right
first move
The recommendation balanced three things the client cared about most: cost, risk and speed, without closing any doors.
Lower upfront investment
A full booking engine meant a substantial jump in development cost and operational complexity. A leaner site pursued the same business goals at a fraction of the upfront spend.
Faster launch
The site could support the rebrand and start generating direct inquiries far sooner than a complex build would allow.
Lower risk
Instead of a large upfront technical bet, the business could establish presence first and evaluate performance before scaling.
Future scalability
A foundation designed to grow ready to absorb a booking engine the moment the data made the case for one.
06 Design
A storefront
built to
convert
With the strategy agreed, I designed the website as a digital storefront focused on conversion and brand-building rather than transactions.
The design decisions follow from that intent: a clear information architecture that puts every property within easy reach; mobile-first layouts for guests browsing on phones; one consistent call-to-action pattern, so every page resolves to a WhatsApp or phone enquiry; photography-led pages that build credibility; and a structure ready to absorb booking functionality when the data justifies it.
07 Outcome
The website is designed and launched. What the engagement has delivered so far and what comes next:
A professional digital presence that supports the brand
Direct support for the rebranding effort
Clear, direct inquiry pathways via WhatsApp and phone
08 Reflection
The recommendation was never to skip the booking engine it was to sequence it. Understanding the operation, naming the real objective and matching the investment to the company’s stage produced a strategy the business can grow into, with the feature arriving when the evidence supports it.
The site is live, with content population still in progress. Some developer side delays are happening so fonts are not loaded and iterations are happening presently. The next phase reviews traffic, enquiry patterns and visitor behaviour to determine whether a booking engine is commercially justified.