Maybe I just know how to pick good hotels? Every single point you just mentioned has not applied to the way I typically do it, the cancellation policy is always the first thing I look for and make sure it’s clearly spelled out. I’ve never had any problems actually interacting with the sites either.

I'd be interested to know what your process is if you've got a way to reliably pick out boutique hotels whose websites don't suck without taking too long over it. E.g. I'm going to Munich in August - want to talk me through what you'd do?