Hotels go to great lengths to
provide the perfect ambiance
and atmosphere for their
customers. However, most hotels
overlook the importance of
having an accessible website that
serves as an alternative gateway
to draw customers ’ interest in
staying at their hotel.
Hotels mostly cater to an
international crowd. Other than
the frequent business executives
who practically live in hotels
most of the year, majority of
their clientele have never stayed
at their hotel before. The only
thing these hotels can do to
attract online customers to make
a reservation with them is to
ensure that they have offer an
online booking experience that
differs from the others in a
positive way.
Image credit: Ayla87
In this article, we take a look at
some beautiful and innovative
hotel websites that are currently
floating in cyberspace in the
hopes that other web designers
can draw inspiration for their
next hotel project.
What makes an Excellent
Hotel Website?
There are many factors to
consider when creating an
excellent hotel website. It must
not only have an attractive
design, but must also maintain
simplicity of navigation, provided
succinct and relevant information
and, above all else, easy
functionality. All these work
together to help create a
pleasant experience for the user
which may very well be the
deciding factor customers
consider when making a
reservation.
Visual Attraction
A picture paints a thousand
words. Photographs of the hotel
grounds, rooms and even
location maps will allow
customers to get a better idea of
what to expect of the hotel. For
some customers, appearances
are everything and a pretty
picture of their vacation lodging
can help nudge them into a
decision.
Hotel Guarda Golf
Hotel Guarda Golf has a large
gallery of photographs that
allow customers to look at what
they are paying for from various
angles. This will help customers
to get a sense of security when
deciding if it is the right place to
spend their money on.
Social, Social, Social
Not everyone you know gets to
travel around the world, as such,
the best way to get feedback
regarding where to stay on your
travels is through reviews from
satisfied customers. Reviews are
the modern day word of mouth
recommendation that can be a
big factor customers consider
before making any hotel
reservations. Social media and
viral marketing have become so
powerful that even the rich and
famous rely on them to make a
decision on where to stay away
from home. Advancement in
web technology allows hotel
guests to give feedback after
their stay with the hotel.
In fact today, guests can even
subscribe to hotel RSS feeds or
follow the hotel’s social networks
like Twitter to stay updated with
the hotel’s latest promotions and
events.
MGM Grand
MGM Grand allows their visitors
to obtain updates from popular
social networks like Twitter,
Facebook and Youtube.
Functionality
The website of a hotel needs to
attract customers visually, but
also ensure that it is not a hassle
to get the basic information they
seek while deciding which hotel
to make a reservation with.
The loading time of each
webpage should be fast if not
customers might get frustrated.
And appealing to more than one
of our senses can help
customers get a taste the quality
of service the hotel offers. While
customers scroll through pretty
photographs of the rooms and
hotel ’s grounds and services,
they can be treated to pleasant
and soothing music as well.
Having an online booking system
is important as it allows the busy
user to quickly make the
necessary reservations without
the hassle of waiting for a phone
operator to attend to them. A
powerful booking system will
help ensure that it can handle
large numbers of booking traffic
without any problems and allow
the hotel to enter the next
technological era smoothly.
Atlantis The Palm
Beautiful and large scrolling
images that don ’t require any
reloading time allows the visitor
to enjoy the visual treat on the
website. Altantis also has a
comprehensive online booking
system that makes it very easy
for visitors to use.
Multilingual Websites
Hotels hope to target the
international market and
although English is a widely
spoken language, hotels should
cater to the needs of customers
whose first language isn ’t English.
If the same information given to
English speaking customers is
also provided in other languages
like French, Japanese, and
German etc without having to
exit the website, it will greatly
increase the chances of the
customer choosing to make a
reservation with the hotel.
Albert Hotel Riga
Albert Hotel Riga is one such
example in which their website
allows the customer to choose
between languages like English,
Russian and Latvian without
having to exit the site.
Ease of Use
Clear and simple navigation
should be one of the priorities
when designing any hotel
website. It is one of the push
factors for visitors to make the
decision to make a reservation
with the hotel. Important
information like location, contact
details, and booking methods,
should be easy to find and
simple to use. This will ensure
that the prospective customer
does not get frustrated and
leave the site without making a
booking.
Grand Hotel Tremezzo
Easy to navigate, the Grand
Hotel Tremezzo website allows
the visitor to quickly obtain
important information as they
are listed neatly and prominently
on the navigation bar.
Detailed Service
It is important for customers to
know the various services the
hotel can offer them during their
stay. Knowing more about the
hotel and their policies will help
customers gain a sense of
security and build confidence in
the hotel they are considering to
book with. Relevant details
should be easily accessible and in
given in a reasonable font size
for customers to read with ease.
Information given on the website
should be valid and there should
not be any misleading or hidden
details kept from potential
customers.
Capella Singapore
Capella Singapore is a six star
hotel with numerous facilities like
their spa options and four
different dinning venues as well
as activities like their signature
tours and cruises. These are
available for visitors to take a
look at on their site, thus giving
them an extra edge over other
hotels.
Choice of Colors
Colour schemes used in hotel
websites play an important role.
Warm and sensual colours are
often used as they create a
homely and comfortable feeling
for their web visitors. After all, a
hotel stay is one’s home away
from home. Hotel websites
usually have a colour scheme of
white, blue, black or green
because of the symbolic
connotations of these colours.
White is associated with elegance
and purity. Blue is calming and
sensual. Black adds a sense of
mystery and Zen-like feeling.
Nature’s green helps the busy
traveller unwind and refreshes
their senses.
Hotel Missoni
Hotel Missoni website design
stands out from the others
because of its unique concept
and excellent use of colours.
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