TL;DR:
Most boutique hotels focus on design, service, and branding, but ignore the strategic goldmine of customer research. By understanding how guests plan, book, and experience travel, hotel marketers can unlock insights that drive direct bookings, reduce reliance on OTAs, and build lasting guest relationships. This post breaks down how to get started and what to prioritize.
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Why Customer Research Is Your Boutique Hotel’s Secret Weapon
Boutique hotels like yours thrive on delivering personalized, memorable experiences. However, decisions about marketing, website content, and guest engagement are often made based on gut feel or assumptions. Customer research flips that on its head. It replaces guesswork with clarity, allowing hotel teams to market with precision and reach the right people with the right message at the right time.
This is the purpose of marketing, right?
More importantly, it helps shift the balance of power away from third-party booking platforms (OTAs), giving you back control over your revenue, your brand, and your guest relationships. Who wouldn’t want that?
What Exactly Do We Mean by Customer Research?
Customer research refers to any method you use to better understand your ideal guests, their motivations, habits, preferences, frustrations, and how they make decisions when planning a trip.
This can include:
- Surveys and feedback forms (post-stay, website pop-ups, email)
- 1:1 interviews with past guests
- Social listening and review analysis
- Analytics tools like Microsoft Claritiy, Google Analytics, or FullStory
- Data from your PMS, CRM, or booking engine
- Competitive or destination-specific traveler research
When done correctly, this research helps you answer questions like:
- Why do guests choose us over other hotels?
- What stops people from booking directly?
- What questions do they have during the booking journey?
- What websites or platforms influence their decisions?
Why Most Boutique Hotels Overlook It (and Why That’s a Mistake)
Let’s be honest, customer research isn’t glamorous, it isn’t fun, and definitely isn’t at the top of anyone’s list of things to do. It takes time. It’s qualitative. And it doesn’t always offer instant gratification like launching a new ad campaign or redesigning your website.
But skipping this step leads to expensive misfires:
- Building a brand identity that doesn’t resonate
- Spending money on ads that attract the wrong audience
- Creating website content that doesn’t educate and help your guests through their journey
- Falling victim to OTA dependency because you haven’t built enough value to justify direct booking
I talk to a fair number of boutique hotel owners, and many don’t do customer research. The ones who do have a much stronger online presence and are less dependent on the OTA (as mentioned above). Here’s a real-world example of why this is so powerful:
A boutique property in Galveston, TX , conducted interviews with 30 past guests and discovered that nearly all of them initially found the hotel through Instagram or Google but booked through an OTA because they weren’t sure the best price was on the hotel’s site. Huge problem, right?
They spent a fair amount of time adding price-match messaging to their website and a “Why Book Direct?” section on key landing pages. By doing so, they increased direct bookings by 28% in just three months.
They would have never known this had someone on their team not picked up the phone and started calling.
How Customer Research Boosts Direct Bookings and Marketing ROI
When used strategically, customer research directly impacts your bottom line. Here are some examples of how:
1. Improves Website Conversion Rates
Knowing what your guests want to see on your website helps you tailor content, headlines, CTAs, and offers. For example:
- If guests consistently ask about parking, airport transportation, or pet policies, this should be front and center.
- If travelers worry about cancellation policies, build in reassurance earlier in the funnel.
2. Enhances Paid Media Targeting and Messaging
Stop guessing what to say in your ads. Use your research insights to:
- Write copy that speaks to pain points or desires (“Tucked-away luxury near the buzz of downtown”)
- Build landing pages that convert better
- Avoid wasted spend on audiences that aren’t a fit
3. Supports Better SEO and Content Strategy
If guests are Googling “pet-friendly hotels near Asheville with hot tubs,” and your research confirms that’s a frequent request, optimize for it.
Tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or even just analyzing your own booking engine search terms can help you pair guest insights with keyword strategy.
4. Reduces OTA Dependence
When you know what matters most to your ideal guest and position your hotel accordingly, you build the confidence and trust needed to drive direct bookings.
Consider integrating:
- A best-rate guarantee
- Guest reviews directly on your site
- Unique value propositions that OTAs can’t offer (e.g. room upgrades, local experience add-ons)
How to Start a Customer Research Program (Without Overwhelming Yourself or Your Staff)
Despite popular belief, you don’t need a massive research department to get this done on a regular basis. Start simple and scale.
Phase 1: Quick Wins
Add 2-3 short questions to your post-stay survey. Example:
- “What made you choose our hotel?”
- “What nearly stopped you from booking?”
- Use Typeform or Google Forms to collect input on your site from visitors who don’t book.
Phase 2: Deeper Insights
Interview 5-10 past guests over Zoom or phone. Either reach out to them to schedule a call, or cold call them (most won’t mind). Make sure to focus on questions that help you gather the following:
- How they planned their trip
- What mattered most when choosing a hotel
- What nearly made them choose someone else
- Use a tool like Microsoft Clairity to analyze how users interact with your booking engine and homepage
Phase 3: Data + Action
- Cross-reference qualitative insights with booking data
- Identify common drop-off points and content gaps
- Test messaging, offers, and page layouts based on findings
Pro tip: Assign someone on your team to be the “voice of the guest.” Have them share insights monthly with your marketing and ops team to stay aligned.
Don’t Just Guess – Get Closer to Your Guests
In a world where travelers have endless options and booking is often just a swipe away, the hotels that win are the ones that truly understand their guests. Customer research doesn’t need to be complex; it just needs to be consistent.
The payoff? More bookings, more loyal guests, less reliance on OTAs, and a brand that thrives on authenticity and insight.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between customer research and guest feedback?
Guest feedback typically happens after a stay and focuses on satisfaction. Customer research is broader; it includes understanding potential guests before they book and why they behave the way they do. Both are valuable, but customer research is more strategic.
How often should we conduct customer research?
We like monthly, but quarterly is a good cadence for most boutique hotels, and even a twice-yearly effort is better than none. Update your insights whenever you launch a new campaign, redesign your website, or see a major shift in travel trends.
How can small hotel teams do this without a research department?
Use tools like Google Forms, Microsoft Clarity, or simple guest interviews. Assign one team member to oversee gathering and sharing insights. Start small and build from there.
Will this really reduce our OTA reliance?
Yes… if implemented correctly. When your brand messaging, website, and marketing speak clearly to your ideal guests’ needs, you create trust and urgency that can shift more bookings directly on yoiur website.
Is it worth hiring a third party to do this?
It can be, especially if you don’t have time or need help analyzing data and turning it into action. Honestly, a few members of your staff should be able to carve out 30 minutes per week to work on this during their downtime.
Greg is the founder and CEO of Stryde and a seasoned digital marketer who has worked with thousands of businesses, large and small, to generate more revenue via online marketing strategy and execution. Greg has written hundreds of blog posts as well as spoken at many events about online marketing strategy. You can follow Greg on Twitter and connect with him on LinkedIn.