Boosting Website Engagement and Direct Bookings: How TrueTour™ Transformed Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa’s Guest Experience

Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa offers a delightful blend of natural beauty and luxurious amenities. Located by the Atlantic Ocean, guests can enjoy stunning sunrises, palm trees, a refreshing oceanside pool, and an exceptional spa and spacious suites. As part of the IHG luxury and lifestyles group, the hotel stands out as one of the 1% of the hotels in the country that are condo-owned properties, with most of its 111 rooms being spacious suites. The hotel also has 2,352 sq. ft. of meeting space to accommodate guests and groups looking to host events there.

While Vero Beach thrives as a seasonal destination—primarily bustling from the holiday season through Easter, focusing on the leisure market, which currently accounts for roughly 90% of their business mix—the hotel is proactively expanding its group business opportunities. The warmth and hospitality of the staff further enhance the guest experience, creating an exceptional retreat in Florida.
According to Lee Hunter, the Director of Sales & Marketing, the hotel attracts many repeat visitors, resulting in a strong “book direct” business through central reservations and the hotel’s website. Their marketing strategy encompasses various consortium programs, and although the sales team consists of just five members, they play a pivotal role in securing group business, enabling the revenue management team to optimize rates and marketing initiatives.

Managing a condo-owned hotel brings its complexities in revenue management, with room revenues serving as a critical KPI alongside individual owner concerns. Ultimately, the focus remains on understanding and improving occupancy and Average Daily Rate (ADR) while monitoring performance against established benchmarks. Despite challenges this year, he highlights their success compared to the competition and emphasizes the role of TrueTour in helping them achieve their revenue goals.

Situation

Due to the property’s expansive size and diverse range of rooms and suites, Lee chose to partner with Visiting Media to elevate the guest experience and enhance visibility. The focus was on highlighting the unique offerings of their Vero Beach resort, one of only two four-diamond oceanfront resorts in the county.

By strategically embedding TrueTour links throughout their website, they showcased their varied accommodations, from entry-level suites with ocean views to premium suites featuring extensive function spaces. Collaborating with Visiting Media’s photographers, they developed detailed visual content, including immersive 3D tours and 360-degree views of the rooms and hotel amenities. This approach has significantly enhanced guests’ understanding and interest in their offerings, resulting in a notable increase in bookings and positive reviews.

The first thing you see on our homepage is our TrueTour. You can click on it and do an entire tour, of all spaces. You see every inch of this property on our website, no matter what you’re looking for.

Process

Lee discussed the ongoing challenges at the hotel in the past related to managing over 20 different room types, which often led to customer confusion and dissatisfaction. In 2022, despite their efforts to update room types and improve clarity, it remained difficult for guests, especially newcomers, to navigate their options, as many requested a “king bed” without realizing the variations available.

Around this time, the partnership between Visiting Media and the Kimpton brand began to take shape, yielding positive results at the first properties that adopted the technology. During a sales conference, Lee encountered a Visiting Media salesperson who effectively conveyed the benefits of the technology, prompting a decision to integrate it into their operations.

I talked to multiple people directly, my counterparts and other directors of sales and marketing, who have been with Visiting Media for a long time, and it was very successful for them. I could walk through their hotel and see what it looked like.

Lee reported that the implementation and onboarding process with Visiting Media was exceptional. The team’s responsiveness was impressive; they made adjustments to the content swiftly and without hassle and committed to providing future updates at no additional cost. Overall, the collaboration has left them highly satisfied with the outcomes achieved. Previously, Lee had an episode when he struggled to obtain photos for their website. Although they featured their TrueTour online, they needed images to accompany reservation details. Given the challenges with some rooms, Lee turned to Visiting Media for help obtaining those photos. The team proved to be a lifesaver.

Visiting Media worked closely with Kimpton’s distribution team, IHG, and Lee’s General Manager to gather images, enhance the photos according to brand standards, and distribute them through the appropriate channels. Lee could not be more pleased with the collaboration.

Solution and Results

To help potential visitors understand unique room layouts, such as those with unusual configurations or multiple bedrooms, 3D tours are offered alongside traditional photos. This approach has enhanced guest satisfaction by clearly communicating room specifications, including the number of bathrooms, which helps reduce misunderstandings at check-in. This vital information is easily accessible on the website’s homepage, allowing guests to explore the property before booking.

The sales and catering team uses TrueTour daily, catering to clients from high-end communities who want to celebrate with their families. With a focus on providing a personalized experience, the team shares their TrueTour links to showcase event spaces, making the planning process easier and faster.

The front desk team has also benefited from TrueTour for upsells. It allows guests to preview room types on their phones, improving their experience, especially on busy check-in days. This has significantly increased guest satisfaction by helping them understand what to expect, particularly for visitors unfamiliar with the property.

For Lee, a big indicator of TrueTour’s success is the number of visits to the platform links displayed on their website, around 20,000 visits per quarter.

It’s been so much of a game changer for everyone in this hotel: my general manager, myself, my revenue manager, my sales and catering team, the front desk.

A Big Win

Lee didn’t have a specific anecdote from a client using TrueTour, but a very successful use case is when conveying the unique features of their new outdoor restaurant, Heaton’s. Previously to the use of TrueTour, they relied on screenshots and lengthy emails, which often confused potential clients, especially for events like weddings. Now, with the ability to share 360-degree views of the space—showing details like the patio and fire pit—they’re able to provide a clearer understanding of the venue, leading to increased interest and bookings. Click below to see Heaton’s TrueTour.

Summary

The collaboration between Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa and Visiting Media has proven to be a transformative partnership, enhancing the guest experience and streamlining operations. By integrating innovative technology into its website and sales process, the hotel has effectively addressed challenges related to diverse room types and improved communication with potential visitors.

This strategic approach fosters guest satisfaction and contributes to business growth, as evidenced by the impressive engagement metrics. As the hotel continues to expand its group business opportunities and uphold its reputation for exceptional service, the success of this partnership will undoubtedly serve as a model for other properties aiming to elevate their offerings in the competitive hospitality landscape.

Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa Quicklook

• Management Group: Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants LLC
• Brand: IHG Hotels & Resorts
• Segment: Luxury and Lifestyle
• Space: 111 suites | 2,352 sq. ft. meeting space
• TrueTour Facts: with their TrueTour link embedded in several places on their website, the see impressive results on website visits, with an average of 20,000 TrueTour link visitors per quarter