Halcyon Wellness
A retreat brand that books out months in advance from the homepage alone.
Cinematic site + reservation engine + email-first nurture. Books 70% of stays direct, not via OTAs.
Stillness, by reservation.
A 14-room retreat on the northern coast. Plant-forward, screen-free, intentional.
Stillness, by reservation.
A 14-room retreat on the northern coast. Plant-forward, screen-free, intentional.
The brief, in plain English.
Halcyon was 80% booked through OTAs that took 18% commissions. The owners wanted to flip the ratio without sacrificing occupancy. The challenge: make the direct experience better than the third-party one.
What we set out to do.
- Goal / 01
Move bookings from OTAs to direct booking on the brand site.
- Goal / 02
Build a brand story strong enough that guests start there, not on a marketplace.
- Goal / 03
Capture the email list so off-season nurture is possible.
What was in the way.
Most discovery happened on third-party sites — direct brand search was low.
Existing site looked like a brochure — no booking flow, no urgency, no soul.
Inventory and pricing managed in three places that disagreed nightly.
How we built it.
Brand
Editorial-cinematic visual system. Long-form room essays. Considered typography.
UX
Designed around the moment-of-decision: pick the room, pick the dates, picture yourself there.
PMS
Unified property management to one source of truth. Sync to OTAs as fallback only.
Press
Coordinated launch with editorial features that drove brand search.
Designed for the thumb, not the cursor.
Mobile booking is the primary flow. Full-bleed imagery, sticky reservation button, single-screen rate + date + room selection. Apple Pay default.
Stillness, by reservation.
A 14-room retreat on the northern coast. Plant-forward, screen-free, intentional.
Every decision tied to a number.
Direct rates undercut OTA prices by 12% — explicitly stated at the top of the booking widget.
Email capture in exchange for early access to off-season dates.
Email-first nurture with arrival-week anticipation content.
Retention loop: returning guests get pre-public access to new room releases.
The numbers, 90 days in.
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