15 Well-Designed Hotel Websites (And Why I Like Them)
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Web design is best shown through examples. As with all visual art, you need to show examples to illustrate style. And great web design is art.
Here are some of the best hotel websites I’ve seen recently:
Trapp Family Lodge
Why I like it: This site does a great job of sharing the experience through great images and solid copywriting.
Mosaic House
Why I like it: I profiled their site before – noting their excellent use of Facebook Connect to build a community. This latest version does this even better.
Hotel Terra
Why I like it: Smart and simple.
Jumeirah Group
Why I like it: It uses images to avoid complicated navigation and present a more engaging interface.
Atlantis The Palm
Why I like it: The flash intro is put to good use – splitting up traffic by visitor type. Once visitors reach the main site, they see beautiful images and a clear next step: making the reservation.
MGM Grand
Why I like it: I’m not usually a fan of flash-heavy websites, but this fits their style well. I like how they position social media as a way to receive updates on Vegas – not just their hotel. And you’ve gotta love some good house music… 
Pueblo Bonito Resorts
Why I like it: This website just seems to have everything in the right place, and uses rich media well
Albert Hotel
Why I like it: The ‘meet your team’ concept is genius
Hotel Guarda
Why I like it: Links are written as benefits of staying with them.
theWit
Why I like it: I love the concept of Witisodes. And they do a good job of letting others sing their praises. (It’s meaningless if you call yourself the best hotel)
The Urban Suites
Why I like it: Cool map, separate page with guest reviews – speaks well to their core audience
Thompson Hotels
Why I like it: Instead of just shouting what they want to say, they ask what I want to hear
Hotel SO
Why I like it: It’s clean, simple, and connects with the type of design-conscious budget traveler they are trying to reach.
Haagsche Suites and Mitaroy Goa Hotel
Why I like these: I’m a little biased here, but Guido and Mihir are great examples of hoteliers that built a community of online fans through blogging. This has worked so well for them that they publish their whole hotel website now in WordPress.
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Hi Josiah, that’s a great collection of hotel websites. We recetnly relaunched our website and would very much appreciate feedback from you and your readers. http://www.hollmann-beletage.at
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Josiah, I can’t actually believe that you featured me in your list of 15 great hotel websites. I am truly humbled to receive such accolades from the Master of Hotel Marketing himself
Btw, did you read my blog post about the reasons why I shifted to WordPress.com ? With WordPress.com its basically about “Doing it wrong quickly” that you and Mike Moran talk about.
http://mitaroygoahotel.com/2010/05/07/why-i-chose-wordpress-com-for-my-new-mitaroy-goa-hotel-website/
I love some of the other Hotel Website examples you have used here. But I am quite wary when it comes to a few hotel websites on the list with flash and fancy gimmicks.
Remember, quite often guests haven’t made up their mind about their choice of hotel and they are looking for INFORMATION first and foremost, rather than a fancy flash intro that takes ages to upload.
I think the secret to great hotel websites lies in giving the guest the information he requires in the quickest time possible, so as to make an informed decision. And the only way to do this is to simplify your website to the bare minimum.
As I always like to quote the founders of Google, “Success lies in Simplicity” !!! I couldn’t have said it better myself !
Cheers
Mihir
Josiah –
Great post, as always. It’s fun seeing the different hotel personalities, and designer personalities and their creations. I’ll echo Mihir’s comment above about the use of Flash and the user’s want/need for content and information.
I work for an SEM agency with a number of hotel clients, so I have to comment on the issues with Flash and the lack of content – which I understand you weren’t necessarily keeping that in mind when you came up with your list.
Flash causes so many problems for site owners that these sites always seem to be a bigger headache than anything. Search engines are able to read most Flash now, as long as you include the content in the appropriate tags behind the Flash. My biggest issue with Flash is the annoyance. I can’t stand all of the moving parts, no matter how pretty it is. The first thing I do is look for that skip intro button – I don’t think I’m alone on that.
Regarding Mihir’s comment about content. I couldn’t agree more. In order to ever rank in the search engines you need to have content. The content should be mostly for your users, but you most definitely have to keep in mind the engines when building your site. Build enough great content and you can satisfy both users and engines, which is ideally what you’re trying to do with a new site anyway. SEO is getting very complex so be sure to either read up or consult someone who knows what they’re doing.
Josiah,
Always good to see what people think is good in the world of hotel websites, and you picked some nice ones – that MGM one is the bomb – but you’ve definitely looked at it from a hotelier’s perspective. And from a wealthy hotelier’s perspective at that!
If you come at it from a potential client’s perspective, wanting to get some info/make a booking but never having seen any of these sites before, most of them are going to leave you feeling confused and nauseous way before you work out how to see what rate they have for a double room next week. Most of them are guilty of that classic mistake of trying to do everything on the home page and their usability is generally poor.
Plus, as the previous posters have noted, there’s the issue of too much flash, not enough copy. Basically, there’s a definite triumph of style over content. It’s all very well having a funky Facebook icon, but in reality, most of us aren’t ever going to use it and couldn’t care less even if we do. Better to spend your time getting the website right.
We specialise in hotel website design and development, and I always like to point people to this gem – it’s not one of ours, by the way. http://www.hotel-oxford.ro/en . A complete hotel website in what is effectively 7 pages. Causes a few SEO challenges, but better to start with this and add things on, rather than chuck in everything but the kitchen sink.
Like the blog, by the way!
David
Amen to that John.
I never really realised how useless most websites really are until I wanted to take my parents our for a Thai meal (http://mitaroygoahotel.com/2010/05/13/on-a-thai-mission/).
Most websites want to sell to us when all we are looking for is INFORMATION. Not a 20 minute long Flash intro which takes 20 years to load. Not even fancy pictures which flood the whole screen and then some.
Do you know why I always click on Wikipedia’s search results in Google’s SERPs ?
Because Wikipedia strips out all the marketing speak and gobbledegook and gives me plain INFORMATION.
Just the way I want it !!!
Cheers
Mihir
P.S. I should blog about that some day…
There are some ways to use Flash appropriately, in my opinion. Embedded Flash on a site that tastefully scrolls through hotel (or any product/service) photos is very effective. If you’re going to use Flash, just make sure you balance content vs. Flash in order to help ensure a more SEO friendly site and positive user experience.
Wikipedia is always a great example of an informational site, but I think it can be too bland at times. People love photos & video…as they can tell a better story than words. I always recommend clients use a combo of video, photos and content to help tell their story.
Josiah, you are suggesting Flash (!) intro (!) for hotel website? (Atlantis The Palm) I’m disappointed …
I *only* like intros if they are needed to split up traffic. In this case, splitting up people who are interested in Dubai vs. Bahamas vacations ….and then for language….I think is fine.
Josiah, great food for thought for all of us.
Another element to also consider is the booking experience (from the consumer’s point of view). I viewed a few of the hotels you listed to see “what happened next” for a consumer wanting to price and book a room.
It really fell apart for several (sorry!). Moving away to third party sites with completely different navigation, look and feel is off-putting. The snap and precision you and I admired on the home page, should be part and parcel of the entire user experience on a hotel website.
Thanks for getting the conversation going.
Chris, you’re right on. Design needs to continue through the booking process. That’s where the money is collected, and if the UI is poor, people are less likely to make the reservation. Thanks for bringing this issue up!
Dear Josiah
Thank you very much for presenting the Guarda Golf Hotel website on your blog.
We are very happy that our creativity has been appreciated by you.
We are always following with great interest your articles which we considerate the bests.
Greetings from Switzerland
Thanks for reading, Daniele!
These comments just go to show everybodies opinion and possibly location is so totally different. I abhor too much information, and want to see great visuals on flash that hook me to book, which is why our website is being redesigned with this and consultation with our past guests in mind. If I need to know specifics then I can read on. I agree with keeping things simple and selling your resort by images rather than quote David above “everything but the kitchen sink”.
Helo Josiah…Thanks for such a nice listing…I like the Hotel Guarda the most, nice pic u got…
Following on from Claire’s comment, I’d say that all of us posting comments are actually not all that far apart on what we want, it’s more the technical aspects of how it’s done that differ. We all want great visuals, compelling content, the site well optimised for search, a clear and confidence-inspiring booking process, right?
It’s the balance that’s key – too much Flash kills your SEO efforts, too much text makes the site too dull, not understanding how crucial the booking engine is and badly bolting on the cheapest one you can find kills your revenue, and so on.
There are also other tricks available – “liquid html” allows you to make image-based websites that display full screen at any screen resolution. With today’s ever expanding screen sizes, you therefore get amazing visuals with no use of Flash whatsoever and consequently no loss as regards SEO opportunity. You need to have some great images though, because at 1280×1024 (or even bigger), there’s no hiding the shots that aren’t good enough.
The key is to find the balance that’s right for you, your property, your audience – if in doubt, test it. Pick a few people, sit them in a room one at a time with a computer and ask them to realise a task related to your website, and watch while they do it. For example, give them the hotel name, ask them to find it on Google, identify which room(s) would be suitable for a couple with a 2 year old child and book the cheapest one for a certain date. You’ll be amazed at what you learn, how your wonderful website confuses the hell out of them, how the booking engine just won’t quite let them do what you’ve asked, and so on. Trust me, it’s a humbling experience! And you’ll learn so much.
Also, add the free iPerceptions 4q surevy to your website (http://www.iperceptions.com/solutions/4q/) – a simple survey that asks a percentage of your site visitors what was their Purpose of Visit, did they complete it satisfactorily and what was their level of satisfaction with the site. Simple yet absolutely fundamental questions. I thoroughly recommend it.
David
Thank you for the shout out Josiah and for connecting me with Mihir.
Food for though!
Definitely a lot of food for thought.
Guido, I am following your transition from static to WordPress for Haagsche Suites with great interest.
Thanks once again, Josiah !
Cheers
Mihir
Hi Josiah.
Finally got time to drop a comment here. First timer.. so HI
Great list you had here. I especially like that you mention some smaller hotels that used Social Media to build a relationship with their customer base.
Many of us is familiar with the great job they do at the Roger Smith Hotel – http://rogersmithlife.com/.
I think flash and embedded videos is a great way to present a interactive message to your customer base. In Real Estate this technique has been used for a while. Why focus so much on the limitations rather then see some of the opportunities it brings. Is not Hospitality about the Experience – so why not start creating the experience in the mind of the viewer…
I also enjoy the MGM website. Two of my favorite Vegas Hotels http://www.planethollywoodresort.com and http://www.phtowers.com/ – really rocks in their presentations — make me want to go there just checking their website.. And then I figure when it does it to me, I can’t be alone about it.
Mihar said the secret to great hotel websites lies in giving the guest the information he requires in the quickest time possible, so as to make an informed decision. And the only way to do this is to simplify your website to the bare minimum.
I think it has to be a balance and like said that you are able to start doing something about the customers mind set.
Else I agree with Chris earlier that moving to a third party reservation from your landing page can be a turn off.
Beside that I might would included the direct links to these great hotels.
But I am catching up on your info to learn more.
So keep up the great job Josiah.
Cheers.. Are
Great post, looks like hotels are finally starting to see the benefits of integrating social media with their official web sites.
Some great ideas for hotel sites can be taken from the websites posted.