How do you approach the challenge of conveying your brand personality online? yoo Marketing looks at 5 great hotel brands that got it right.

2. Five Great Hotel Websites

3. What makes a great hotel website?
1. Engages guests with the brand
2. Offers guests a glimpse into a
likeminded tribe of shared values
3. Is highly usable and functional

4. Brands are on the increase as they tap into a
need to find one’s own community
A likeminded tribe of shared values

5. The Finalists…

6. Reasons to love it
Simple, clear navigation
Sophisticated, emotive, image-rich messaging
Pivotal ‘Call To Action’ is not crowded by other
unnecessary content
One & Only uses simple messaging and evocative images
to draw an online audience into its aspirational sphere
without sacrificing functionality to style. Everything you
need is here in straightforward navigation that takes you
directly to the homepage of each hotel location, which in
turn feature emotive video and image-rich content
conveying the spirit of each setting. And of course, the
most important element – ‘reserve your stay’ is ever-
present.

7. Reasons to love it
Unpretentious and friendly
Priority ‘Call to Action’ stands out effectively
Engagement with the people and cultural zeitgeist of the
locale
The first words that spring to mind here are ‘unpretentious’
and ‘user-friendly’. The website is not over-complicated or
over-crowded, yet it is content-rich; a micro culture-hub for
its locale which cleverly positions the Hoxton as
embodying the personality of its young, fashionable
clientele. Its relevance to the location is its biggest asset
and by engaging with local people of interest it remains
relevant, authentic and offers something fresh and exciting
to potential visitors.

8. Reasons to love it
Key functions are ever-present. The website remains
practical, clear and usable.
The strategy here is to generate ‘sticky’ content that pulls
users deeper into the website and keeps them there.
Urbane, clean and credible, GrandLife positions itself as
cultural hub for people in-the-know and not simply a tourist
trap.
GrandLife reads more like a lifestyle magazine than a
hotel booking site, yet it gets points for not sacrificing
functionality at the alter of style. It would be an easy
mistake to make as part of a web strategy that prioritises a
wide spread of editorial as its mainstay. ‘The Locals’
features insider tips from the city’s most notable names on
the downtown New York Scene – an ingenious piece of
content that positions GrandLife at the heart of its
neighbourhood. We are being told that staying at the Soho
or Tribeca Grand will be like staying with a native friend.
You will have the opportunity to experience the city in the
same, unique, exclusive way that a local person would, not
just a tourist.

9. Reasons to love it
Clean, uncomplicated, modest design.
An impressive selection of information available on the
hotel’s main attractions and best rooms.
An extensive collection of images invites the user to get to
know the hotel visually
The Standard’s series of hotel websites are definitive
examples of simple and cool done well. An extensive
gallery of images is a key feature. Images of rooms are
what users make a beeline for. Here you can browse
image after image of guest rooms, the suites, the lobby,
Biergarten, grill and plaza and even the shop. Additionally
there are in-a-nutshell key features lists of the hotel’s main
attractions and best rooms. You get a real sense of the
place before you even step through the doors. A cultural
portal sites The Standard as a tastemaker – from music to
food and news from the Standard’s kitchens, events, video
clips to watch and recommended things to do and see
each week.

10. Reasons to love it
Ultra – simple homepage content
Brand personality conveyed instantly through design
Personal, intimate blog invites user to join part of their
‘tribe’
Ace Hotels has played a wild card with this brand-
definitive design but it’s a winning gamble. Visitors to the
site are instantly drawn into the eccentric brand personality
embodied in the images and style, yet it’s clear, easy to
navigate and all the relevant information is accessible. The
level of simplicity is almost audacious! You have 2 options
– read some quirky, interesting factoids about the location,
or book a room. And really what more do you need when
the brand personality is being conveyed so well? A linear
blog appends the website with deeply individual reviews of
attractions, exhibitions and places of note in each Ace
Hotel location. The overall impression is of the highly
personal, intimate experience you are being invited to
participate in by the Ace Hotel Tribe.