Popular Beach Resort uses Maestro PMS and ResWave Booking Engine to drive Direct Web Bookings and Personal Service that Leverages 25K+ Facebook Fans for Higher Revenue, Lower Cost

The secret to success in the destination travel world is going ‘social.’ If you combine a popular Facebook presence with one-click direct room booking, you are golden. No one has a more entertaining and effective online presence – with 25,000+ Facebook ‘likes’ – than the Jimmy Buffet-branded Margaritaville Beach Hotel on the white-sand shores of Pensacola Beach, Florida. 

Margaritaville Beach’s online presence has grown steadily since its 2010 opening. The property’s website and Facebook pages showcase its laid-back tropical resort atmosphere and offer promotions that include rooms, entertainment, and family activities that supplement its reputation for spirited nightlife. Margaritaville Beach Hotel uses the Maestro Property Management System (PMS) and ResWave online booking engine to enable guests to check availability and reserve rooms directly from the property’s social media webpages and hotel website.

“More than half of our reservations come through our ResWave online booking engine that enables guests to book directly with us. This makes booking easy and fast without third-party booking fees,” said Margaritaville Beach Hotel General Manager, Joe McCay. “We plan our promotions around our online presence. Most of our guests use the Internet to make their vacation decisions, so we create promotions that are only available online to keep our fans checking the site for new offers.”

“Party with a purpose” leverages Maestro and social media to help guests give back

“Our Facebook page is very popular so we post lots of social media promotions there,” McCay said. “A common misconception is that Margaritaville Beach Hotel is strictly a party venue. But many of our online promotions raise money to support important causes. We call this ‘Party with a Purpose.’ We create fun ways for guests to help others. Maestro’s ResWave booking engine lets our Facebook fans take advantage of promotions and reserve rooms without leaving the page.” 

Destination resort with a ‘heart of gold’

Recent social media promotions that gave guests the opportunity to support humanitarian causes included Margaritaville’s “Bras Across the Bridge” Pink Party to promote breast cancer awareness. The property also hosted a “Sand 5K and SUP” race to benefit the Humane Society of Pensacola and the Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida. “We almost always tie our events to a good cause,” McCay said.

Room availability on the hotel’s website and social media pages is always accurate because Margaritaville’s Maestro PMS is fully integrated with its ResWave booking engine. Maestro is also networked with the property’s outlets so all guest activities and charge postings are accurate and stored in Maestro’s database enabling the property to deliver service that exceeds expectations.   

Margaritaville Beach Hotel ties its highly-effective online promotion strategy to continuous personalized follow up with guests so the property understands what is important to its customers. “More than half of our reservations come through our ResWave online booking engine allowing guests to book directly with us. This makes booking easy and fast,” McCay said. “We include a ‘how did you learn about us’ field on our Maestro reservation page that helps us understand which of our booking channels are the most valuable. This information enables us to develop stronger online marketing programs that increase occupancy and revenue.”