
Reinventing Finnish Hospitality
A seamless booking experience for Finland's leading hotel chain
In a nutshell
What
Sokos Hotels renewed its booking system to offer a simple, flexible, and user-friendly experience for all types of travellers.
Why
The outdated platform needed improvements to enhance user experiences for customers and employees.
How
Through data-driven insights, stakeholder collaboration, and responsive design under strategic vision, we built an easy-to-use platform.
Highlights
Growth
+20 %
Increasing the revenue converted from the website compared to 2023 with old site
Room sale
+16 %
We have helped our hotels increase their occupancy rate by selling 16% more rooms compared to 2023 with old site
Conversion rate
+40 %
The conversion rate for the new site has improved very much, showing the effectiveness when creating excellent services
Average CES
4.5/5
Highlights how well the customers have received needed information to create a reservation
How to test
Start the booking flow from the button below. You can test the service as you wish. Book with S‑Etukortti, to experience what most of our customers do. Book without S‑Etukortti, to see the last steps of the flow without needing to log in. Please notice, a confirmed reservation is a real reservation.
Starting point
Booking hotel stays online has been a practice for Sokos Hotels from early 2000s. The previous website was released 2013, and the share of reservations through the channel has consistently increased until industry breaking numbers.
However, the technical platform was outdated, and there was significant room to enhance user experiences for both customers and employees.
As a leader in the hospitality industry catering to diverse clientele, including international and domestic guests, Sokos Hotels sought to transform its digital landscape. Collaborating closely with the product development team and stakeholders, our focus was on streamlining the customer journey for effortless service discovery and reservations. Additionally, we aimed to elevate Sokos Hotels' loyalty programs, providing guests with enhanced value and satisfaction throughout their stays.
Goals
The reasons behind a hotel stay - business trip, family holiday, staycation with a loved one - greatly affect customers' behaviour on the digital service discovery and booking paths, as well as their expectations at the hotel.
Our aim was to build intuitive paths that cater to these conflicting needs: personal customer service vs. quick self-service, elevated atmosphere vs. family friendly and easy. By gathering relevant cues about the guests on their digital path, our hotel staff could match the experience at the hotel to customer expectations.
“We aim at smooth customer and employee experience, growth in sales, and modern and firm technology. Flexibility is a key aspect to all the above, to prepare the service not only to the current but also to the rapidly changing future.”
— Sokos Hotels North Star
Design phase: Agile design & development under strategic vision
We followed the SOK Design Process below.

Data-driven decision making
From reflecting on the previous experience of Sokos Hotels customers, we learned where to focus for a smoother booking experience on the new website.

- 23,6% of all customer feedback mention customers' wish to choose between a shower and a bathtub while booking their hotel room.
- 0.99-2.97% of the hotel pages were interacted with, and users failed to find what they were looking for.
Key point 1: User experience and interface
Collaboration with stakeholders
We developed the main features step by step to understand and align with the business requirements. To achieve this, we collaborated with various stakeholders, including those working in loyalty programs, customer service, marketing, sales, revenue management, strategy, and IT, as well as hotel managers and employees.
- The customer has not always made the reservation to the end, even if they think they have. Then those situations are clarified over the phone and at the reception when the customer arrives.
Key point 2: Booking process and proof of booking completion
- Joining the loyalty program must be clear and the product must be featured on the website. More and more people can join S-Card online and know the benefits of business travel. Also, customers who have S-Etukortti clearly see benefits when using Sokos Hotels.
Key point 3: Membership experience online
Customer validation
As we gained insights and learned where to create the greatest impact, we moved forward with ideating and iterating potential solutions. The process included conducting several sessions of user validations from small UX/UI decisions to entire concepts and user paths. We recruited different types of users from our website, Facebook community and emails, and tested on-site or remotely using high-fidelity prototypes. During the user test, we asked participants to perform several tasks with certain scenarios with often semi-structured questions as well as open questions.



Technical implementation
We employ Next.js deployed to Vercel to secure a performant baseline for better search engine optimisation. To achieve fast page loads, we prefer incremental static regeneration to have pre-rendered pages ready for web browsers that update when the content is edited through our own content management system.
The backend implemented by most part of performant Go microservices deployed to Amazon Web Services. It utilises caching and autoscaling to withstand heavy load during campaigns. With the high maturity in our release management and quality assurance, we are deploying changes to production on average three times per day.

Combining all insights we were able to build a state-of-the-art website. Starting from vision creation for our ultimate goals, we refined and moved through the MVP development that currently contains key features. After shutting down the old website, new Sokoshotels.fi has been constantly evolving every day.
Solution
Sokos Hotels delivers a seamless booking experience, tailored to every detail—dates, room preferences, and payment methods. With thoughtful optimization and user validation, we’ve set a new standard, ensuring effortless searches and confident confirmations. The fully responsive design ensures accessibility across all devices, laying the foundation for inclusive and user-friendly services that cater to every traveller’s needs.
Also, the renewed booking system handles even complex reservations, such as large families with pets and kids needing multiple rooms and specific options. By showing only relevant choices while ensuring the flow and interface are intuitive and clear, users can easily make detailed selections without overwhelming simpler bookings.


From solo travelers and couples to big groups
The new Sokoshotels.fi is designed to effortlessly scale with the needs of different travellers, whether it’s a solo guest seeking a cozy room, a couple planning a romantic getaway, or a large group requiring multiple rooms. The streamlined flow allows users to easily specify the number of rooms and guests, with clear options for configurations, such as shared rooms or separate accommodations. Advanced system capabilities handle complex queries, ensuring no detail is missed, even for high-volume bookings. This scalability ensures that every traveller enjoys a smooth and intuitive booking process, regardless of group size.

Families with children to guests with pets
Understanding the unique needs of families and pet owners, our booking system accommodates special requests effortlessly. The booking flow considers age-specific needs—whether a two-year-old requires a crib or a teenager needs an extra bed—and offers clear options tailored to these requirements. For the growing number of travellers bringing pets, we’ve made it easy to identify and book pet-friendly rooms, turning a potential deal-breaker into a seamless experience.




From leisure to business travellers including the loyalty memberships
Our booking flow caters to both leisure and business travellers, integrating enhanced features for the members of our two loyalty programs. Guests can effortlessly book using S-Etukortti or S-Card memberships, ensuring they receive the benefits they value most. For business travellers, S-Card offers an elevated experience with tailored options, making frequent stays more rewarding and convenient. Whether for work or relaxation, the system provides a seamless journey for all loyalty tiers.


Impacts
The new Sokos Hotels booking platform has delivered significant results, both in measurable business outcomes and customer satisfaction. With impressive growth metrics and glowing post-booking feedback, the platform has not only enhanced the ease and clarity of the reservation process but has also provided a foundation for continued improvements based on user insights. Below, we highlight key numbers and customer testimonials that demonstrate the successful renewal of our Sokos Hotels website.
Key Numbers
Growth
+20 %
Increasing the revenue converted from the website compared to 2023 with old site
Room sale
+16 %
We have helped our hotels increase their occupancy rate by selling 16% more rooms compared to 2023 with old site
Conversion rate
+40 %
The conversion rate for the new site has improved significantly, showing the effectiveness when creating excellent services
Average CES
4.5/5
Highlights how well the customers have received needed information to create a reservation
Customer feedback
“Ihanaa, kun kaikki omat tiedot ovat muutaman klikkauksen takana ja varaustietoja voi muokkailla tosi helposti, eikä tarvitse aloitella alusta tai peruutella...”
“It's wonderful when all your information is just a few clicks away and you can edit reservation information very easily, and you don't have to start over or cancel...”
“Huoneiden tiedot ovat selkeästi esillä. Sivuston ulkoasu on siisti, loogisesti asiat löytyvät. Hyvä!”
“The information about the rooms is clearly displayed. The layout of the site is neat, things can be found logically. Good!”
“Varaus hoituu helposti ja hienoa, että voi maksaa etukäteen yritystililtä pois, säästää laskujen kanssa venkslaamista”
“Booking is easy and it's nice that you can pay in advance from your company account, saving you the hassle of dealing with invoices.”
“Plussaa että lemmikit voi laittaa jo suoraan varausvaiheessa ja hotelli tarjoaa vain sopivia huoneita tähän.”
“It's a plus that pets can be placed right at the booking stage and the hotel only offers suitable rooms for this.”

Team
- Sokos Hotels website development team
- Companies involved in the design of the work: SOK, Nordkapp
- Companies involved in the development of the work: SOK, Netlight
- Other influential parties: key stakeholders from SOK, cooperatives, and Sokotel, and the vast amount of customers who have contributed
* Photography in the technical implementation section taken by Teppo Kotirinta, Nordkapp