Reopening Seasonal Hotels: Key Issues, Levers, and Tips for a Successful Summer Season

Every year, the arrival of spring marks a strategic moment for many seasonal hotels, both in France and abroad. Coastal resorts, wine estates, wellness retreats, or mountain hotels converted for the summer season - hundreds of properties awaken from their winter slumber to welcome guests seeking escape, sunshine, and new experiences.

A Strategy that starts early… Just like your communication efforts

Reactivating a seasonal hotel requires meticulous coordination. Infrastructure maintenance, equipment checks, reservation system updates, and team training (often involving new or partially renewed staff)—everything must be operational to ensure a seamless guest experience from day one.

Recruitment is also a major challenge. In a competitive hospitality job market, establishments must get creative to attract and retain qualified, motivated talent. Work atmosphere, transparency about conditions, and the value of the human experience are now just as important as salary.

However, these operational imperatives shouldn’t overshadow the critical importance of a well-designed communication strategy. Too often placed on the back burner, communication is essential for ensuring optimal visibility from the very first days of reopening. Proactively planning press relations, digital campaigns, and influencer activations generates buzz around the property, attracting experience-focused guests.

Working with a Travel Marketing & PR Agency for Tourism ensures your communication aligns with your business goals and market expectations - setting the stage for a successful season.

Short season, early communication, maximum visibility

One of the biggest challenges for seasonal hotels is their limited operational window. This means communication must ramp up early, be rhythmic, and precisely targeted.

As early as January or February, advance bookings begin. That’s the time to boost your online presence, highlight your offers, announce your opening dates, tease new features, and re-engage your communities via newsletters, social media, influencers, or press and digital campaigns.

A well-crafted content strategy can make all the difference: immersive posts, storytelling around the property’s history, or a behind-the-scenes “reopening diary” can build anticipation and strengthen engagement.

Activating levers such as media relations, influencers, digital tools, and commercial support isn’t just about visibility—it directly affects the property’s overall return on investment (ROI). A well-executed campaign increases bookings, improves brand awareness, and enhances the hotel’s reputation. At GroupExpression, we pride ourselves on measuring the effectiveness of every action we take, delivering tangible and measurable results to our clients.

Seasonality: a lever for brand image and desirability

Contrary to popular belief, being a seasonal hotel isn’t a weakness—it can actually be a powerful positioning tool. This limited timeframe creates a sense of rarity, which fuels desire and excitement: “We have to go this season—otherwise, we’ll have to wait until next year.”

Many hotels have capitalized on this model to cultivate a strong, almost mythical identity. Take for example our client, Althoff Villa Belrose,a five-star hotel in Saint-Tropez. Even in the absence of major new features each season, we always identify a newsworthy topic or a specific angle to maintain interest and spark curiosity. The hotel management is also attentive to the changing needs of its guests, adapting its offerings accordingly.For instance, after the Covid pandemic, a collection of luxury villas for rent was introduced to reassure guests by offering a tailored solution—while still providing all the comfort and services of a hotel.

It was a real success.

On Costa Navarino's side, an iconic sustainable destination in the southwest Peloponnese - the winter closure period is shorter, thanks to a milder climate and a wide range of services and activities. With its four luxury hotels, four 18-hole golf courses, luxury residences and villas available for rent or purchase, around forty restaurants, bars, and trendy local shops, along with seasonal activities for all ages - from olive harvesting in the fall to international DJ sets at the beginning and throughout the summer season, golf tournaments kicking off in February, or sporting challenges such as an Ironman after summer - everything has been thoughtfully designed to bring the destination to life and offer guests the best possible experience.

Conceived as a comprehensive hospitality and cultural ecosystem, the destination offers a rich experience rooted in its local heritage while resolutely focused on international appeal. The objective here is not simply to "stay open longer" but to bring the destination to life in a coherent and inspiring way year-round, supported by a well-crafted event, commercial, and content strategy.

For Palladium Hotel Group,the Spanish hospitality brand with over 40 hotels across 8 countries (Spain, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Italy, Brazil, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates) and 10 different brands - the challenge is somewhat different. Some of their hotels are open year-round, while others, primarily in Europe, operate seasonally from around April to October. Whether focused on entertainment, gastronomy, or family experiences, these hotels must adapt their offerings to meet the specific expectations of their seasonal clientele. For example, in 2025, Palladium Hotel Group plans to launch new luxury concepts and expand its culinary offerings to further enrich the guest experience.