Are Hotel Websites Still Driving Reservations in 2026?

As a hotel marketer, it’s important to notice when things start to feel...off.  

Nothing appears to be broken. The demand is there. But for some reason, things don’t feel as steady as they once did.  

Digging deeper, you might notice that visibility, trust, and confidence have started to feel harder to earn when it comes to your digital presence. Hotel leaders notice small but persistent shifts:  

• Bookings are still coming in, but they require more effort.
• Wedding and event inquiries look healthy, but don’t convert as cleanly.
• Marketing feels busier, yet results feel less predictable.
• OTAs have quietly begun to play a larger role.  

When these shifts start to come up in leadership conversations, the causes are tricky to pinpoint. The instinct is to look at pricing, competition, staffing, or the market itself, and sometimes those are part of the picture.  

We'd argue that what’s actually happening is much more subtle. Fixing that isn’t necessarily a simple, easy answer, but we have one key suggestion for where to look first: your website.

The Website Has Quietly Taken on More Responsibility  

For many years, hotel websites were treated primarily as marketing assets, places to showcase rooms, tell a story, and support bookings. That approach made sense when guests browsed more patiently—but now, they have other tools to rely on. Artificial intelligence powered tools.  

The presence of AI in digital discovery hasn’t rendered the website less valuable, as some might think. In fact, we’d argue that the website carries more responsibility today than it once did because of how AI uses it to deliver information.

Today, the website functions simultaneously as:  

• A signal to search engines and AI systems trying to understand and represent the hotel.
• A sales environment for rooms, weddings, and events.
• A trust checkpoint for guests deciding whether to book direct.
• A risk when usability or accessibility falls behind expectations.  

This doesn’t mean every hotel needs a new website tomorrow. But it does mean the cost of standing still is higher than it used to be.

How Guests Are Choosing Hotels Has Changed  

Over the past few years, research across travel and consumer behavior has shown a steady rise in summary-driven decision-making. Today’s travelers rely on map results, reviews, and AI-generated descriptions during their initial planning process, rather than going right to hotel websites (Skift, Google Travel insights).  

But don’t be mistaken: while websites might not do much heavy lifting when travelers are first browsing, they do play a crucial role in the decision-making process as those travelers narrow down their options. Think of it this way: by the time a guest reaches a hotel website, chances are that they are no longer exploring broadly. They are confirming whether their short-list of hotels aligns with what they’ve already been told.  

In other words, your hotel website is finding travelers later in their booking process. To better meet those travelers where they are, your website must prioritize a different set of goals...  

• Clearly showcase your intended audience.
• Reinforce trust quickly and confidently.
• Make next steps feel obvious and comfortable.

How Thoughtful Hotels Are Responding  

Hotels navigating this shift with confidence tend to focus on updates across three key areas...

1. Clarifying Their Story

Successful hotel websites will prioritize clear, human storytelling that helps guests understand what the hotel offers and what makes it unique.  

• What makes the hotel distinct
• Who it’s best suited for
• What the experience genuinely feels like  

This kind of clarity is ideal for guests, but it also helps discovery platforms and AI systems interpret and summarize hotels accurately. The clearer your story, the better AI can understand and summarize it, and the more likely it’ll be showcased in AI-powered suggestions.

2. Rethinking Visibility  

Instead of asking, “How do we rank higher?”, these hotels ask: “Are we clearly understanding where decisions are now being shaped?”  

As AI-driven summaries and recommendations play a larger role in discovery, visibility becomes less about volume and more about accuracy, consistency, and credibility.  

AI-driven approaches to visibility, like EO+, are emerging in response to this shift to ensure hotels are represented correctly in modern search environments.  

3. Treating the Website as a Performance Asset

When the timing is right, these hotels invest in their website to:

• Reduce friction
• Support conversion across rooms, weddings, and events
• Meet modern usability and accessibility expectations
• Reinforce trust earlier in the decision process  

Accessibility research consistently shows that improvements made for compliance often improve usability for all users and reduce abandonment in the process (UsableNet, W3C guidance).

What This Means for Owners and Leadership Teams  

What we don't want to do by sharing this insight is cause panic. The landscape of digital discovery is changing quickly, but jumping headfirst into new updates isn’t the answer. Instead, these shifts call for reflection and thoughtful action.  

To kick off this process, start with aiming helpful questions with your leadership teams:

• Is our website helping guests move forward with confidence or hesitation?
• Are we clearly differentiated, or simply present among many options?
• Are we visible and accurately represented where decisions increasingly begin?
• Do our digital tools support sales, marketing, and trust equally well?  

Revisiting these questions early will give you a better chance to protect revenue and regain steadiness, before you find yourself (and your brand) compensating later through higher costs or greater effort for the same return.  

Aim for More Than Just a Website Update

Trust us when we say that by the time this shows up clearly in reporting, leadership teams often find themselves asking:  

Complex questions require complex answers. When the question becomes “Why does it feel like we’re working harder for the same results?”, it’s time to look at opportunities to:  

• Clarify the brand
• Strengthen visibility in a changing discovery landscape
• Build trust earlier in the decision process
• Support sales, not just marketing  

Your hotel website is a great place to start.  

For support aligning these elements, get in touch or learn more about how EO+ can keep your hotel discoverable and AI-ready, even by today’s ever changing visibility standards.