In an increasingly competitive hospitality landscape, strengthening the direct channel has become a strategic priority for hotel groups looking to reduce distribution costs while building stronger relationships with their guests. For family-run groups with a long-standing heritage, this challenge is often paired with another ambition: preserving a distinct identity and delivering a consistently personal guest experience across every touchpoint.

Cabau Hotels is a clear example of how these two objectives can go hand in hand. With more than 35 years of history and a diverse portfolio of properties across the Balearic and Canary Islands, the group has embraced technology as a way to enhance its direct channel without losing the warmth and authenticity that define its brand.

In this interview, the Cabau Hotels team explains how a strong strategic foundation, paired with data-driven decision-making, has helped them increase direct bookings, improve conversion, and deliver more relevant experiences to every website visitor.

Let’s hear what the Cabau Hotels team had to say…

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us! To start off, could you tell us a bit more about the concept of Cabau Hotels?

Cabau Hotels is a family-run hotel group with over 35 years of history. We currently have seven properties located in the Balearic and Canary Islands, each with its own identity and charm, from family-oriented resorts designed for everyone to enjoy, to our boutique hotel Glòria de Sant Jaume, right in the heart of Palma’s historic center.

Our concept is simple yet ambitious: we want every guest to feel like part of our family and as comfortable as they would at home, while still enjoying something special. This is all made possible thanks to the warmth and dedication of our entire team.

What led you to collaborate with The Hotels Network for your direct channel strategy?

A few years ago, we made a strong commitment to strengthening our direct channel, as it offers significantly lower distribution costs compared to other channels. When The Hotels Network team reached out to us, we evaluated their solution and saw that it aligned perfectly with our goals: improving the visibility of our direct channel and optimizing booking engine conversion.

Additionally, the platform provides us with highly valuable insights into direct channel performance, helping us identify some of the main drop-off points that were limiting conversions and address them more effectively.

What tactics have you found most effective for boosting direct website bookings?

First of all, beyond any short-term tactics, we focused on getting the foundations right. We organized our rate distribution to ensure that inconsistencies wouldn’t undermine our efforts to strengthen the direct channel. Collaboration with our commercial partners was key in this process, and tools like BenchDirect and Lighthouse’s Parity Insight helped us identify rate disparities.

At the same time, the data provided by The Hotels Network on website and booking engine conversion allows us to quantify the efforts we are making to improve our KPIs.

In addition, we have introduced exclusive benefits for guests who choose to book their stay through our website.

Another tactic that has worked particularly well for us is using The Hotels Network’s customizable elements, which make it easy to adapt website messages in real time to capture users’ attention at key moments, such as promoting special offers or highlighting the benefits of booking direct.

That’s great to hear. We know that Cabau Hotels is one step ahead by using Predictive Personalization to anticipate website visitor behavior. Can you tell us more about how AI has impacted your results?

Honestly, it’s one of the features of The Hotels Network that has surprised us the most. Our conversion rate has improved significantly compared to previous campaigns. Thanks to predictive technology, we can anticipate user behavior and create highly segmented campaigns based on key factors such as booking intent, search lead time, and even estimated spending profile. This allows us to deliver much more relevant and personalized messages to each type of user. As a result, the impact has been directly reflected in higher conversion rates and increased revenue per session.

Can you give us an example of a campaign that has been particularly effective in capturing your visitors’ attention?

One of the most effective campaigns we’ve run in recent months was aimed at promoting stays during the low season in the Balearic Islands. Thanks to The Hotels Network’s technology, we were able to target travelers who showed greater flexibility in their travel dates.

One final question: Based on the success you’ve experienced with your Personalization strategy, what advice would you give to other hoteliers looking to improve the performance of their direct channel?

My first piece of advice would be to take a step back and analyze your entire direct channel strategy to identify opportunities for improvement, keeping in mind that this is a continuous optimization process. A strategy that seemed final just two months ago may no longer be the right one today—constant learning is key.

Once you have a solid base strategy in place, the natural next step is to assess which technological tools can help you further improve direct channel performance, such as The Hotels Network.

And lastly, as I’ve mentioned before, continuous learning is essential. This is where The Hotels Network’s account managers add real value—not only through ongoing account support, but also by sharing emerging trends, running webinars, and bringing best practices from across the industry that can be applied to your direct channel.

Cabau Hotels’ experience highlights an essential truth for today’s hoteliers: direct channel success is not driven by isolated tactics, but by a continuous process of optimization rooted in data, consistency, and learning. By first addressing rate parity and distribution fundamentals, and then layering in advanced personalization, the group has achieved measurable gains in conversion and revenue per session.

We’d like to thank Cabau Hotels for sharing their approach to building a stronger direct channel. By combining a clear strategy, ongoing learning, and intelligent personalization, they are redefining how high-performing, meaningful guest experiences are delivered through the direct channel.