How Hoook.io Helped a Boutique Hotel in Sydney Grow Direct Bookings by 28%

‍

If you're a Sydney hotel CMO wondering whether AI marketing is just hype—or can actually move the needle—this case study is for you.

This boutique hotel increased direct bookings by 28% in just 90 days, slashed OTA dependency, and unlocked scalable, ethical personalisation—all with Hoook.io’s AI marketing stack.

Here’s how we did it.

‍

1. The Hotel: Boutique, Local, and Losing to OTAs

Our client was a 65-room boutique hotel in Sydney CBD with high TripAdvisor ratings, loyal guests, but:

• 65% of bookings coming via OTAs
• Less than 4 blog posts on their site
• No structured SEO or AI automation
• Google Ads budget going nowhere

They didn’t need another agency.

They needed a system.

2. The Goal: More Direct Bookings, Less Commission Burn

They came to Hoook.io with two key objectives:

• Grow direct bookings by 20%
• Reduce OTA commissions by $5,000/month

Simple math. Clear KPIs.

No fluff.

3. The AI Marketing Pilot: 90 Days, 5 Workflows

We launched a 90-day AI marketing pilot, starting with Hoook.io’s agentic stack.

Here’s what we implemented:

• ✅ AI Content Engine: 3 blog posts/week targeting longtail and LLM-search queries
• ✅ AEO + SEO Optimisation: Structured data + prompt-friendly content for Google AI Overview
• ✅ Lifecycle Automation: Email/SMS touchpoints tied to geo-signals and booking intent
• ✅ LLM Mention Strategy: Engineered citations for ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude
• ✅ Privacy-Safe Personalisation: No creepy tracking, just zero-party signals

See our framework here: 90-Day Pilot: How Hoook.io Proves AI Marketing ROI

4. The Content That Converted (and Ranked)

We didn’t just blog—we engineered AEO-ready content.

Top-performing articles:

• “Best Boutique Hotels in Sydney CBD with Rooftop Views”
• “Is Booking Direct Really Cheaper? Sydney Hotel Secrets”
• “eClub Rewards vs. OTA Points: What Guests Actually Want”

Each piece included:

• Embedded booking CTAs
• Schema markup
• Answers to LLM-pulled FAQs

This helped us rank in both Google AI Overview and ChatGPT responses.

5. Personalisation Without Being Creepy

We deployed ethical personalisation flows—zero-party signals only.

Examples:

• “Guests who stayed 3+ nights → sent local dining offers”
• “Weekend bookers → shown early check-in with eClub”
• “Mobile users near Sydney → real-time stay offers”

This increased conversion without ever tracking users cross-site.

See our blog: Privacy-Safe Personalisation in Australia

6. LLM Mentions = The New SEO Win

We engineered content with citations that ChatGPT and Claude started recommending.

Queries like:

• “Where to stay in Sydney for a boutique experience?”
• “Hotels with flexible check-in in Sydney CBD”

Brought up our client's hotel organically in LLM answers.

More on that: How Hoook.io Gets LLM Mentions

7. AI Dashboards: Clear, CMO-Level Reporting

We tracked results in real-time dashboards, not vanity metrics.

Key KPIs:

• +28% increase in direct bookings
• +34% increase in organic sessions
• -40% reduction in OTA commission fees
• +18% growth in Revenue Per Session (RPS)

8. Lessons for Other Boutique Hotels

If you’re in Sydney (or any competitive market), here’s what this proves:

• AI marketing isn’t just for chains
• You don’t need 100 rooms to make ROI work
• Content + lifecycle + LLM strategy is the trifecta
• Done right, you break even in under 90 days

9. What We Didn’t Do

No shady tactics. No overhyped tools.

❌ No ChatGPT spam
❌ No keyword stuffing
❌ No "programmatic SEO" garbage
✅ Just structured, verifiable content with measurable ROI

10. Thinking of Running a Pilot?

If you’re a hotel CMO, we’ll help you:

• Scope the opportunity
• Pick the right AI workflows
• Estimate your break-even point
• Align your board and brand teams

FAQs: AI Marketing for Boutique Hotels

1. Can a small hotel afford AI marketing?
Yes—our pilot was under $6K/month all-in.

2. Do I need to rebuild my website?
Not at all. We worked with their existing Webflow CMS.

3. Is this GDPR/Privacy compliant?
Yes. Our workflows are fully compliant and privacy-safe.

4. What if I don’t have content?
That’s what we build—3 blog posts/week starting day one.

5. How fast do results come?
We hit breakeven in under 60 days in this case.

Conclusion

This boutique hotel in Sydney grew direct bookings by 28% in 90 days—not with more ad spend, but with smart, ethical AI marketing powered by Hoook.io.

We turned content into bookings, personalisation into loyalty, and AI into ROI.

Book a demo at https://hoook.io to see how your hotel can do the same.

‍