Hotel Website Makeover: Summery Hotel

Ioanna, a reader from Greece, sends her website for our next makeover.

“Hi! I’m a very loyal fan of your blog, through which I was introduced to a number of useful ideas. I have (shared) ownership of a medium size 2 star seafront hotel in Lixouri, Kefalonia (Cephalonia), Greece…. I would love it if you could review our hotel website…[which] is provided through yearly subscription by a big name in Greek Tourism which also promotes our hotel together with all the other hotels in its system.”

It’s been a few weeks since our last hotel website makeover, so let’s dive right in…

Website Analysis

Hotel Summery ReviewWhat I would change

On this website, a design update seems most urgent to me. Specifically, I would like to see these changes:

  1. Each page should have one purpose, one theme. The current pages on this site try to include too much information.
  2. The navigation bar needs to be emphasized. The existing text is too small.
  3. Site-wide navigation needs to be improved. Little things like linking directly to an image file or a pop-up window (from the nav bar) hurt usability.
  4. Page text should be dark (black) on white for optimal readability. White on light blue is very hard for readers.
  5. Social media links need to be added in a way that builds credibility but does not distract.

Take-away questions for anyone

  • Are my web pages too complicated?
  • Are my pages easy to read?
  • Could I improve the navigation on my site?

Remember, we’re giving away a $25,000 marketing makover package less than 48 hours from now. If you haven’t entered the contest yet, make sure to send us your entry by midnight on Friday.

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Article by Josiah Mackenzie // July 30, 2009 Josiah partners with innovative hotel managers to help them use new media and the social web to create memorable guest experiences and increase profits. To bring him on your team, call him now: 1 (415) 347-6784

Comments

 
  • Good points made but there are some fundamental points missing here:
    1. No room photos on home page. A person going to a hotel is going to sleep there primarily, first thing one wants to see are the rooms and the beds.
    2. Photo quality, they are not pro photos, for a 150 room property you can afford a photographer.
    3. No rates anywhere? If this is a luxury property I can understand, but then you want to show your rooms. But if this is not a luxury property, show some rates.
    4. What’s special about this hotel? Location? Rates? Quality? something that makes this hotel different from the others.

    In addition to Josiah’s points these could boost your reservations.

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