Case Study: Fenwick Islander Motel achieves 95–100% occupancy and OTA independence with Cendyn's Guestfolio CRM

How a seaside inn broke free of the OTAs with Guestfolio CRM

Fenwick Islander Motel is a 63-room, family-run seaside inn in Fenwick Island, MD that needed to reduce costly OTA commissions (15–30%) and drive more direct bookings while keeping marketing and guest-communication costs low. To accomplish this, the property partnered with Cendyn and implemented Guestfolio CRM (part of the Cendyn Marketing Cloud) to centralize marketing, guest intelligence, surveys and automated communications.

Using Cendyn’s Guestfolio CRM, Fenwick Islander Motel moved away from third-party distribution by capturing guest emails, automating branded communications, integrating TripAdvisor surveys and using dashboard insights to target marketing. The results were dramatic: 95–100% occupancy, the property rose to No. 2 locally, a 512% increase in TripAdvisor review volume (86% attributed to Guestfolio), 70% of reviews rated “Excellent” or “Very Good,” and a 61% email open rate—demonstrating clear ROI from Cendyn’s solution.

Fenwick Islander Motel

Tom Sites

General Manager and Owner