With the New Year comes the anticipation of setting goals—what can we do better than we did last year? Whether seeking to improve aspects of our personal or business lives, we devise strategies to succeed in meeting those goals. If your objective is to bring in more bookings this year, you may well be considering a website redesign for your property. A fresh, new website for a fresh, new year full of potential!
While some design trends come and go (like website visitor counters and animated gifs), some are here to stay. Clean, minimalist layouts, quality photography, responsive (mobile-friendly) design, intuitive navigation and online bookings are key elements of any good hotel website, now and in the future.
Here are five examples of redesigns we’ve completed over the past year that incorporate the proven hotel website design practices mentioned above to help boost bookings for our clients.
Alpine Village Cabin Resort
https://alpinevillagejasper.com
The Alpine Village Cabin Resort website immerses visitors in rustic luxury, just as the resort’s cabins do, through a simple design that puts images on center stage. The quality photography is complemented by a sophisticated black, white and pale gold colour palette, with simple interactive animation effects on scroll and hover actions that add a fluidity to the website, conveying both tranquility of place and a smooth user experience.
The beautiful gallery page displays property photos of varying sizes in a custom grid layout, much like an actual gallery wall, making the page a joy to scroll.
Rim Rock Lodge
The Rim Rock Lodge’s website is another understated design that guides website visitors effortlessly through the site. With a soothing colour palette of blue, gray and white that matches the property’s branding, the homepage uses background color blocks to effectively organize information and aid navigation, along with the use of strategically placed call-to-action (CTA) buttons.
Matterhorn Inn
The Matterhorn Inn’s website portrays their classic, well-appointed property with a simple yet sophisticated design that utilizes an elegant color palette of white, charcoal and gold, and classic font. Along with their well-equipped accommodations, their location is a big draw—and this is highlighted through large photos, informative descriptions, and a conveniently organized Area Guide that categorizes attractions under user-friendly tabs.
The Cabins at Gulf State Park
The Cabins at Gulf State Park chose a modern, minimalist design to showcase the natural beauty of their property and surroundings. Plenty of white space, a neutral color palette and classic font complement big, beautiful images for stand-out visuals and timeless appeal. Emotive text overlays like “Off the beaten path” and “Unique as we are beautiful” help draw users deeper into the site. And details like the asymmetrical framing around images and the dynamic circular-fade page transitions help to convey the property’s unique personality.
Huletts on Lake George
https://hulettsonlakegeorge.com
Located in upstate New York, Huletts on Lake George enjoys a stunning natural setting on the eastern shore of Lake George, surrounded by the Adirondack Mountains. The resort has been attracting families since the mid-1800s, and guests continue to enjoy the type of vacation their families have been enjoying for generations—complete with the modern conveniences of today. This combination of past and present is celebrated on the property’s website through a simple, timeless design featuring quality photography, historic photos, a pairing of modern san-serif and classic serif fonts, and a simple color palette that is at once contemporary and vintage.
From minimalist visual design and intuitive navigation to big, beautiful images and subtle animation effects, all the above mobile-friendly websites combine enduring design elements to convey the property’s story and provide a seamless user experience. If your property’s website needs an update, contact us to find out how we can bring it up to speed so that it brings in the bookings!
