Watergate Bay Hotel: a stable ResortSuite booking platform for peak demand

Set above a sandy beach on the north Cornwall coast, Watergate Bay is a destination in its own right. Surfing, coastal walks, the swim club, spa and sea-view restaurants are all part of the experience, with plenty for guests to plan beyond their room. In 2025, the hotel was named Large Hotel of the Year and overall Winner of Winners at the Cornwall Tourism Awards.

In 2024, Watergate Bay approached Data First to address recurring crashes in its ResortSuite integration. Under heavy demand, the volume of API requests was putting pressure on the booking platform.

The challenge was to resolve the underlying issue while preserving the booking experience guests already knew. The result needed to be a more reliable integration that kept the functionality that made the journey its own.

Data First rebuilt the website, CMS and bespoke booking engine, managing the migration and integration as one connected project.

The existing booking functionality was retained, and rate-based and room-based availability calendars were added to the marketing website. Guests could explore prices and availability as they discovered the hotel. They could then build more of their stay around their plans by adding dining, activities and preferences during booking.

Behind the scenes, the ResortSuite integration was re-engineered to reduce API load. Addressing how the systems communicated resolved the recurring crashes and provided a more dependable platform for handling demand.

There have been no recurring crashes since launch, and the full migration was completed with no downtime. The website, content and booking journey now work together on a stable platform.

More of the guest’s stay could be captured within a single booking journey, with the technical foundations in place to support future development. Managing the migration from end to end also gave the project continuity across the website, CMS and booking engine.

API load is a common challenge for ResortSuite integrations, and since the project other ResortSuite businesses have approached Data First about the same issue. With ResortSuite now part of Agilysys, Data First works across both platforms, supporting properties whether they stay on ResortSuite or move to Agilysys.

The 2024 project marked the start of an ongoing partnership, with Data First continuing to work with Watergate Bay on new projects and booking engine implementations.

More recently, observations of the bespoke booking engine in AI-led search have been encouraging. As booking journeys evolve, it is an area we continue to watch, and one that highlights the value of a booking experience shaped around a hotel’s specific requirements rather than standard functionality alone.