buuteeq

We are now bringing property level websites and direct bookings to Choice franchisees across the United States. Choice’s wide-scale support of our platform confirms our mission to enable properties around the globe to connect directly with their guests. Every hotel deserves that direct connection. We are proud to be the industry trailblazer in providing innovative and cost-effective digital marketing technology for thousands of properties around the world.

Read the press release at ChoiceHotels.com.

Pilot Customer

The Sleep Inn & Suites in Colby, Kansas is one of the first Choice franchisees to start their digital marketing adventure with buuteeq. Visit www.sleepinncolby.com to see their new web presence in action, and enjoy a gallery of website screenshots below.

All Dream Cottages & Kingfish Inn live on the buuteeq DMS

Richard and Nanae Fralick are the owners of All Dream Cottages & Kingfish Inn in Orcas Island, WA. They have been using buuteeq’s cloud DMS since February 2013 and wanted to share the following about their experience so far.

Working with buuteeq.com is one of the most enjoyable and enlightening experiences of our (long—singularly and  collectively) lives. It is a real privilege to work with a collection (they call themselves a “tribe”) of young people, all focused singularly on the improvement of our website and by extension our bottom line.

Nanae & Richard Fralick, All Dream Cottages & Kingfish Inn owners

We were first approached by an energetic young man, clearly born to sell with an enthusiasm for the product he was  selling authentic and contagious. More important, Tyler knew his product and while spirited, he was willing to slow down  to explain even (probably to him and most of his generation) the most rudimentary questions about the changing nature of  internet marketing and fundamentals of good web design. Once on board, we were greeted by Roberto, polite and, again patient and consistently cheerful. He plays the role of general manager. He got us started and will continue to help us.

Working with Colleen is a real delight. She listens, and in a very short time incorporates our concepts as well as our style into the end product. We were amazed by what she had seized from our old website and were quite frankly, both surprised and blown away by her first prototype. She got that “not blue, not gray, never purple and seemingly casual but sophisticated” shade of blue on her very first try. Of course, after speaking to her, our expectations were high but her sense of color and design far surpassed anything we had hoped for. Thanks to her, we have a beautiful website.

Nanae working in buuteeq’s BackOffice.

And we had a smooth transition from our old website to new with the help of Robert. His response time, too, is amazing. Matt, who is to be our coach as we take over and add content to our new website, too, is knowledgeable, patient and has a talent for teaching. We appreciate buuteeq’s prescience in this arena. It is truly assuring to have a “coach” assigned to us, to know that help is there when we need it. They also have an on-line help option. While we have only used this help option on the website but once, we think it worthy of mention that the question response time came minutes after.

Although quite willing to share their playful side, each member of our “tribe” is undeniably professional and we are constantly impressed by their punctuality. We believe that time is a valuable commodity and we appreciate that when they say they will call at 4:00, by golly, they do.

We are also very impressed by the BackOffice analytics. Our entire team has been especially patient in explaining the terminology and the significance of the numbers we see. We now feel like we are members of a technically savvy group that can enter into discussions about LOOKS rather than VISITS and impress our friends with our fantastic Bounce Rate! We are not bouncing as high and that is good, right?

The Sea Dream Cottage at All Dream Cottages & Kingfish Inn

Lest we should forget to mention, the software itself is truly amazing. It is intuitive and improvements are continuing to  be made. The most recently launched programing aids are great. They will help make our websites more dynamic and  interesting. We like that the company is young, is evolving and willing to share new technology with their customers (namely us!). We recommend the software and the company without reservation. Management is lucky to have such a dedicated and talented team of workers. Having said that, we are also experienced enough to understand that it takes a lot  of work to be so “lucky.”

MGM Ho Tram creates phenomenal online awareness through early digital

Summary

• Nearly one year ahead of the actual hotel opening, buuteeq launched MGM Grand Ho Tram’s website and online presence, and in just four months more than 500,000 visitors viewed the luxury resort’s website.
• Within two months of deployment, there were more than 5,000 daily unique visitors to the hotel’s online properties, and by November 2012, traffic was consistently hitting 10,000 daily unique visitors and is continuing to climb.
• In February 2013, a YouTube marketing campaign sent nearly 4M visitors to the hotel website over 4 days.

 MGM Ho Tram understands the importance of early online marketing

MGM Resorts International is one of the world’s leading companies with highly desirable brands in gaming, hospitality and entertainment. Each of MGM’s properties is renowned for providing quality entertainment, luxurious facilities and exceptional customer service.

With the launch of the Ho Tram Beach Casino and Resort website, MGM wanted to ensure that awareness and excitement for the newest addition to their portfolio built well in advance of its opening.

In August 2012, buuteeq launched MGM Grand Ho Tram Beach’s  online presence, and in just four months more than 500,000 visitors viewed the luxury resort’s website, despite still being several months away from opening its doors.

Early success paves the way for broad awareness

The Ho Tram is taking advantage of buuteeq’s full Cloud DMS offering, which includes: a content management system for marketing assets; developing and publishing the property’s Web, mobile and social sites; streamlined content publishing to external booking sites; SEO optimization, detailed online marketing analysis reports and more.

Within two months of deployment, there were more than 5,000 daily unique visitors to the hotel’s online properties, and by November 2012, traffic was consistently hitting 10,000 daily unique visitors and is continuing to climb.

This activity put the Ho Tram well ahead of the awareness curve for its upcoming opening, which in turn helped drive crucial early bookings.

buuteeq’s digital infrastructure supports massive spikes in online visitors

In February 2013, another awareness campaign for the resort was launched to create buzz for the impending opening.  A video was posted to YouTube which garnered over 4M visits to the hotel website over a 4 day period.

During this time, MGM Grand Ho Tram website  continued to book reservations for a hotel that hadn’t yet opened.

Visitors peaked at 1.6M a day for three days.  buuteeq’s Cloud DMS continued business uninterrupted; the platform continued to support over 4000+ hotel websites around the world.

She looked up the street at an approaching rickshaw, a two-wheeled vehicle pulled by a human runner, and there to her amazement, swinging in the ‘hemp hammock’ seat was Woody Harrelson. Just another day in Woodstock. Welcome to The Wild Rose Inn, and meet Marti Ladd!

Her roots in the hospitality industry go back to Russia in the1800‘s making her a fifth generation innkeeper. After a successful career in costume and set design, she began renovating old homes for re-sale and eventually purchased an 1898 Victorian farmhouse that would become the The Wild Rose Inn.

Beginning in 1998, a crew of twelve carpenters labored to restore the glorious Victorian aesthetic. In it’s current incarnation the house is beautifully decorated with porches, pergolas, flowering gardens, koi pond, and vintage craftsmanship throughout.

I asked Marti what the differences are between a typical hotel and a B&B establishment, and what an educated consumer should know.

During one of her rare breaks between house chores and greeting guests, she told me, “Here at The Rose there’s not such a distinction between customer and family member. And, it is much more informal than staying at a chain hotel”.

As an example, Marti shared a story that richly illustrated her approach.

“A young couple was having a bit of an argument in their room. Fortunately, the other guests had already left for the day, but the disturbance echoed though the house.

“When they surfaced, I asked them to sit down for some food. And then asked for a small favor: would they be willing to put their quarrel on hold, and take a walk to the nearby waterfalls. An hour later they returned, hand- in-hand, smiling and disappeared back into their room. Peace and love resumed it’s natural course for the weekend”.

“The intimate space created here allows interactions like this to take place,” she explained.

“At a hotel, that would be considered outside of professional conduct. It’s a sad truth, but being overly professional can keep us from nurturing guests as real people.”

Woodstock, N.Y. is famous as a community of artists. So it’s not surprising that the hallways of The Wild Rose Inn are lined with autographed photos of celebrated guests. Cassandra Wilson, Arlo Guthrie, Jefferson Starship, are regular visitors. Ethan Hawke pops in from time to time. The list is long and colorful. This mix of personalities is part of the fun for all the guests who may just stumble upon a famous face at breakfast. But for Marti the satisfaction comes from offering rest for the weary, and comfort for all. She states, “Every picture on the wall is a story or a song. That’s what keeps me in love with being an innkeeper.”

The reputation of The Wild Rose Inn has grown steadily in fourteen years, and she has established a hard-core clientele of repeat customers. The buuteeq digital marketing system is a new tool that she expects will bring the Inn even greater success and brand identity.

“The website is great, full of content and outstanding photography. buuteeq’s system is really turning lookers into buyers!”