The Drayton Hotel

The Drayton Hotel made its home in a 19th-century building in the heart of Savannah’s historic district. After carefully restoring the exterior of one of the city’s oldest buildings, the interiors were completely reimagined to pay homage to history packing an aesthetic punch with bright colors and whimsical decor. The property features 50 rooms and suites, an intimate cocktail lounge, a communal “living room” and coffee bar, a rooftop bar with unmatched views of the riverfront and the iconic gold dome of Savannah’s City Hall, and a Southern-leaning seafood brasserie and oyster bar.

After opening in 2019 and a rocky start with COVID shutdowns, the hotel struggled to gain market share and relied heavily on OTA bookings to fill the rooms. Furthermore, the ancillary food and beverage outlets were not yet well-known to locals and lacked identities separate from the hotel.

The Ask


The Drayton Hotel partnered with Pixel & Polish to increase occupancy while growing ADR, improve revenue per occupied room through ancillary spend and packages, shift share away from OTAs to direct website bookings to save money on commissions, create brand identities and design experiences to differentiate the food and beverage outlets and drive revenue, and build awareness for the hotel and its outlets locally and in key feeder markets throughout the US.

To achieve these lofty goals, we conducted a thorough audit of the current marketing activities and online presence, crafted a detailed omnichannel marketing plan, implemented new supporting technology, developed and launched two brands for the rooftop bar and cocktail lounge outlets, designed seasonal programming and package offerings, captured photo and video content to sell the experience on the website and in marketing materials, optimized and expanded the website for SEO and conversion, improved the quality online listings, and executed multi-channel campaigns that included organic social media, email marketing, paid advertising, website content, and online merchandising.

The Results


Our efforts proved wildly successful with growth in hotel and food & beverage revenues, website traffic, audiences, and engagement across platforms, increased e-commerce conversion rates, improved occupancy and ADR, better market share in STR reports, and ultimately more dollars to the bottom line by focusing on direct bookings over third parties who take a large percentage of the booking.

44

Increase in direct booking contribution

12

Average return on ad spend (12:1 ROAS)

81

Increase in website traffic
Services Provided:
  • Strategy & Consulting
  • Brand Naming & Visual Identities
  • SEO
  • Website Content & Copywriting
  • Photo & Video Production
  • Experience Design
  • Organic Social Media Management
  • Email Marketing
  • Paid Advertising (Search, Display, Video, Performance Max, Social, TravelAds, Metasearch)
  • Analytics & Reporting

Engage the Community

To gain traction in the local market, the rooftop bar and cocktail lounge needed to stand confidently in identities of their own – separate from the hotel, but a part of the overall experience. Pixel & Polish did a deep dive into what was working and what was missing from the scene in Savannah and crafted two unique brand identities – Pendant Penthouse and The Vinyl Room. In addition to producing the assets and guidelines needed from a visual standpoint, programming, activations, and experiential packages were developed to match the spirit of the brands and create a lure to the spaces during every season.

Dial in the Digital

In partnership with Cendyn for development and CMS, Pixel & Polish spearheaded the website revamp and replatform for the hotel, outlining the site architecture, producing all initial content and copy for the entire site, incorporating a homepage hero video that helped skyrocket engagement and conversion rate, and providing ongoing management of SEO and content additions following overall marketing strategy and in response to insights gleaned from performance data.

Launch website

Every great brand needs a way to show off the space, so photography and videography partner Digital Love Studio helped us bring Drayton’s visual library to life.

Reach the Masses

Pixel & Polish crafted a paid media strategy that spanned search, display, video, performance max, social, and metasearch to drive direct bookings, and leveraging Expedia TravelAds to fill specific holes in availability on weekdays. The direct campaigning resulted in substantial increases in overall revenue and website traffic with well-above-industry-average engagement rates and a blended ROAS (return-on-ad-spend) of 12:1. These results allowed for the hotel to shift share away from third parties at a much lower cost per booking acquisition while building brand equity and loyalty among guests. Paid media campaigns allowed for an 8.33% cost of sale for direct bookings versus the 18-20% commission being charged for bookings that came from OTAs.

Create a Lively
Social Experience

Southern Spectacle

Feature awe-inspiring interiors & design elements, one-of-a-kind property offerings, dining experiences, and other glittering features of their modern southern hospitality.

Cultural Beacons

In-the-know, local guides to the best-kept secrets and cultural gems nestled within this iconic southern destination that showcases the vibrancy of the community.

History Telling

Showcasing landmark elements, relics from the past, and local memoirs– bridging the past and the present of the property and the city through hidden gems and cultural influence.

#THEDRAYTONHOTEL