Elite Hotels fixed fragmented bookings, got 25% more guests

When Daniel Gineman joined Elite Hotels of Sweden as Head of Digital, he inherited a challenge that would define his mission. The company had grown from innovative student accommodation in the 1950s to one of Sweden's most respected hotel chains, with 40+ properties ranging from historic city hotels to unique destinations like The Wood Hotel — a 20-floor timber building in northern Sweden.

But their digital experience didn't match their hospitality excellence.

Elite Hotels had a functioning website, but bookings were handled through an external system. This created a fundamental blind spot: the team couldn't track the customer journey, optimize conversion points, or understand where potential guests were dropping off. They had no visibility into what was driving bookings or what was preventing them.

The technical debt was affecting productivity. Simple content changes required developer intervention. A key revenue driver, for example, is hotel and experience packages — combining multiple offers with guests' rooms — which would require navigating multiple disconnected systems to even create.

The hotel booking architecture had naturally evolved through multiple integrations over time. This complexity provided valuable flexibility but also highlighted an opportunity to consolidate systems and streamline performance. By transitioning to a unified Optimizely platform, Elite Hotels gained the agility to manage content, commerce, and customer data in one place — turning operational complexity into a strategic advantage.

Elite Hotels partnered with Optimizely and implementation partner Epinova to rebuild their entire digital ecosystem. The team chose Optimizely CMS as the foundation, with Segmentation and Web Experimentation layered on top to create truly dynamic guest experiences.

The new architecture delivered immediate capabilities:

• Real-time room availability, dynamic pricing, and seamless package creation — all while maintaining Elite's sophisticated brand experience
• Daniel's team could finally move at the speed of their business. Editors gained the freedom to create and design pages without developer support
  
• Advanced segmentation delivers experiences based on guest preferences, booking history, and travel patterns. Business travelers see different content than leisure travelers. Spa enthusiasts discover wellness packages automatically

With SEO-optimized pages and remarketing capabilities, the platform enabled Elite Hotels to reach visitors who have shown interest and drive more qualified traffic than ever before.

The team has also integrated Opal, Optimizely's AI, to strengthen their experimentation capabilities, with future plans to leverage it via the Data Platform for advanced segment creation and richer guest insights.

The transformation delivered immediate, measurable impact across every metric that mattered to Elite Hotels.

The unified booking experience eliminated friction points that were costing Elite Hotels reservations. Guests can now move seamlessly from browsing hotels to booking packages without losing momentum in their decision-making process, resulting in a 25% increase in conversion rate.

With integrated content management and optimized pages, Elite Hotels achieved a 43% boost in SEO visibility. They're now reaching guests who are searching for specific experiences, such as spa weekends, historic hotel stays, and destination packages.

Content creation time also dropped dramatically. The marketing team now launches campaigns independently, freeing developers to focus on strategic initiatives rather than routine content updates.

And for the first time, Daniel's team can see the complete customer journey. They track which content drives bookings, which packages convert best, and where guests drop off — then test improvements immediately.

The platform's flexibility proved crucial as Elite expanded their destination portfolio. New hotels integrate seamlessly, and unique properties like The Wood Hotel can showcase their distinctive experiences while maintaining brand consistency.

Real-time insights, statistics, and data analysis now enable Elite Hotels to optimize their customer journey at every touchpoint, from initial website visits to post-stay engagement.

For Elite Hotels, the digital transformation addressed two critical market realities.

With a long-standing reputation for exceptional in-person hospitality, Elite Hotels recognized the importance of ensuring that its digital presence reflected the same level of warmth, elegance, and attention to detail. By modernizing its platform with Optimizely, the team could create a more cohesive and intuitive digital experience that complemented the high standards already set in its hotels.

A streamlined booking flow and dynamic, personalized content now make it easier for guests to discover and book their stays, strengthening first impressions and long-term loyalty. In a competitive digital landscape, where guests make decisions in moments, having a seamless and inspiring online experience is just as vital as the stay itself, and that’s where the partnership with Optimizely delivers lasting value.

“We see A/B testing and personalization as extensions of our hospitality,” says Daniel Gineman, Head of Digital at Elite Hotels. “Just as our staff anticipate a guest’s needs during a stay, our digital platforms should anticipate them online. Every test helps us learn something new about how to make the experience more effortless, more intuitive, and more personal.”