Concept · Boutique hotel
Linden House
A restored sandstone hotel where the rooms do the selling. The website gets out of the way and lets guests book the one they want.
Concept project A venue we created to show how we'd approach a boutique hotel. There's no live business behind it, so there's no performance data.
The brief
A twelve-room hotel in a restored sandstone building wants more guests to book direct, instead of through the big booking sites.
The challenge
Guests often find the hotel on a booking site, then look it up to see it properly. The hotel's own website gives them little reason to come back and book there: the rooms are hard to tell apart, and the booking button is hard to find.
Strategy
Make the hotel's own website the best place to choose a room. Show every room honestly, keep the booking button in reach, and answer the questions that would otherwise send guests back to the booking sites.
Information architecture
- Rooms: one page per room type, with light, view, size and bed
- Stays: packages and special stays that change with the season
- The neighbourhood: where to eat, walk and park
- Book: straight to the hotel's own booking system
- About and contact
UX decisions
- Rooms compared on size, view and bed, so nobody has to open five tabs
- The booking button stays in the header on every page
- Arrival questions (parking, check-in times, luggage) answered before they become phone calls
Mobile approach
Most guests plan on their phone. Room pages lead with photographs and the three facts people decide on, and the booking button sits within thumb reach.
Design system
Sandstone, oat linen and blackened timber taken from the building itself. A classic serif for room names, and a plain sans for facts.
Key features
- Rooms shown the way guests choose them: by light, view and size
- A booking button on every page that goes straight to the hotel's own system
- A neighbourhood guide that answers the questions guests ask before they arrive
- Packages and special stays kept current from week to week
Conversion considerations
- Booking direct presented as the simplest way to book, without promising prices the hotel does not control
- Packages give guests a reason to book direct that the booking sites don't show
- Every page ends with a next step: a room, a package or the booking button
Visual details
Photographs taken in morning light, when the rooms look their best, with generous space so each room feels calm and unhurried.
Intended outcome
More guests choosing to book on the hotel's own website, and fewer questions by phone before arrival.
A goal for the concept, not a measured result.
Linden House is a concept venue we created to show how we'd approach a boutique hotel. It isn't a real business.