This will allow the booking engine to calculate the meal plan charges according to the number of adults and children within the reservation.

Whether hotel managers are responsible for managing check-ins, meals, entertainment activities or check-outs, hoteliers are always on the run and have no time to spare. Thus, when it comes to website re-design, while many hoteliers know their websites are outdated and due for redesign, most try to postpone that project to the last possible moment.

While most hotel managers are aware of the importance of a strong digital presence, many of them have felt frustrated at least once while attempting this goal. This feeling is the result of traditional web design and agency processes, which call for significant time and attention from hoteliers. When designing a website using traditional web design agencies, hoteliers spend too much time discussing and reviewing. Hoteliers waste time in endless meetings that are supposed to measure progress and ensure that the final result is what hoteliers expect and like, often ignoring the fact that most hoteliers have little knowledge of consumer behavior on the web.

However, hotel managers should not lose hope. As an hotelier, you should understand the most important factors in good web design, making it easier to take a wise decision when selecting your web design provider. By doing so it is possible to find webs designers that are able to provide a great website in a just a couple of weeks and you will be pleasantly amazed by a website that achieves its mission of delivering the right ethnicity according to the type of accommodation.

• Tip #1: Rely on hotel experts

When it comes to hotel website design, it starts with knowing hotels, but above all understanding how hotel website visitors behave.

Web design agencies in general are not experts in hotel website design and this can present itself as a downfall. Promoting on the web the latest mobile phone, soda or shoes is not the same as facilitating shopping for accommodation.

Leveraging hotel website experts, hotel website design best practices and detailed consumer behavior knowledge will allow these experts to lead the process, make decisions that maximize consumer impact, and how much the website sells. Doing so makes it possible to say goodbye to lengthy “design projects” which constantly demand hotelier’s time and resources.

• Tip #2: Focus on a few items that relay your hotel’s experience

This step consists in ensuring that what your guests experience at your property can be previewed on the web. Ensure that the look-and-feel of your hotel is translated into its web design.

Look for elements that reflect the property, e.g. colors, style (e.g. design, country, vintage, beach, corporate) as well as interior design details. Other key elements in communicating your hotel’s experience are your hotel’s logo and its pictures. The hotel logo is the #1 or #2 element that consumers see on your website. Hence, you should ensure that your hotel’s logo is aligned with the property style and is a value-add to your website.

Pictures are aside from price the most important factor when selecting a hotel. Rely on pictures heavily to communicate. In fact, they are crucial as hoteliers may not be able to distance themselves from personal tastes. Hence, pictures are a great way to communicate the experience an “outsider” has of the property, besides being a powerful tool to capture user’s attention.

So, decide which elements you want to promote and highlight, concentrate on transmitting these and ignore the rest. This way consumers will know exactly what to expect at your property.

• Tip #3: User experience is key, forget sub-navigation

Consumers are extremely busy these days thus websites are given 5 to 10 seconds to grab someone’s attention and transmit a message. If consumers have to spend too much time reading they are prone to abandon and search elsewhere. Hence, forget complex navigation structures, keep it simple.

A study conducted by GuestCentric over 300 hotel websites world-wide shows that three pages are critical for consumers: the home page, the rooms page and the booking engine/rates page. In addition, consumers may look for special offers, the photo gallery, and the location of the property.

Assure usability of these six pages with simple navigation and straightforward layouts that communicate the most important message. Avoid clutter and unnecessary information, exclude excessive text and invest in big, bold images.

• Tip #4: Simplify page design, always be closing

Websites are sales machines. They are open 7×24 and should always be generating sales. Designers can no longer deliver vanity projects, and websites that  are  “good looking”. In order to thrive against the competition, your website need to always be closing. We believe the main focus for every website is to gain more business by driving users to book and having a user-friendly online reservations system pays-off.

This means that your website should have a “Book Now” button visible on every page, preferably at the same spot. This simplifies design and ensures consumers know where to go when they are ready to book. In addition, you should promote deals on pages, offer options to contact the hotel, and allows your guests to purchase Gift Certificates. Every page should help consumers get closer to booking a stay at your hotel.

• Tip #5: Responsive design gets the web everywhere

Recognizing that the access to websites is now made through a variety of tools such as smartphones and tablet computers is also necessary when it comes to website development. Users expect to access the network from wherever they are. Ensuring your website works on mobile devices could complicate the web design process as it would be yet another website to design and review.

This is no longer the case. Responsive design cuts the process short as it ensures that your website adapts automatically to mobile devices. For this reason, ensure that your vendor is an expert in responsive design.

• Tip #6: Software as a Service and the ability to change

Traditionally, the ultimate approval of designers work comes when the final result is presented and agreed to. However, this is a restrictive view of websites and one of the reasons why so many hoteliers daunt website redesign projects. In a fast-moving market, hotels need the ability to change websites without being charged an arm-and-leg for every change. Software as a Service is a new model that enables hoteliers to take their destiny into their own hands and change their website without having to rely on design agencies.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, hotel website design should not be as complex as rocket science.

Hotel websites should help hoteliers achieve their objectives, namely in generating revenue. You can follow the tips above, simplify the process and have a new website up-and-running in a few weeks. Searching providers with an edge and that are concerned with these tips may save you from going crazy. With an exquisite knowledge of hotel websites and user’s preferences, obtaining a straightforward design process that adapts to the new digital World is now possible. Creating and maintaining a high-quality website in a short amount of time and with less fuss has become a real option.

We have increased the options regarding room inventory in line with the many requests received. With this new option of defining the maximum number of people per room, hotels can let their potential visitors do the combination of children and adults they desire, as long as it does not exceed the maximum number of people the room can accommodate.

With this new feature, the hotel’s guests will be more satisfied with the reservation experience and the hotel will no longer lose those clients who were not able to do the combination they wished for when using the booking engine.

GuestCentric has enabled the possibility to add vouchers on your website, leading to an increased client portfolio for hoteliers. Whether you want to announce a spa session, a trip to the gym, a dinner at your restaurant or any other voucher. Simply choose from a variety of voucher templates or create a custom version, you decide. The vouchers will appear in the products page, where hoteliers can sort them in order of preference. Moreover, hoteliers can add them as gadgets on the side bar of any other page they wish, or even include them as an add ons.

Mobile version also included!

Now hotels can increase their online exposure, given the ease of distributing information throughout several channels, and reduce the time and cost of updating rooms!

This feature has increased the efficiency updating availabilities! It is now quicker and subject to less manual errors.

This allows managers to test the effectiveness of their campaigns by thoroughly analyzing how much of your investment has been converted into reservations.

Hence, gift certificates or gift cards are a great way to grow your client portfolio, by driving traffic to your hotel or hospitality services. Gift certificates have a few characteristics that make them similar to viral marketing, and certainly a great digital marketing tool:

1. Gift certificates enable hotels to reach consumers that they typically would not reach, representing a means of stimulating additional purchases.
2. Gift certificates are highly targeted and the receiver is certainly motivated to use them, making it an even more efficient method of spreading your services to others.
3. Gift certificates are personal proposals of satisfied customers, building your hotel’s credibility and reputation.

Promoting gift cards and gift certificates is a great way of maximizing your hotel’s revenue and visibility around what people can experience at your property. Gift certificates enable you to promote your spa, your gym, a dinner at your restaurant or any other characteristic that is distinctive for your property.

To date, creating and redeeming gift certificates has been difficult for individual properties. However, new digital marketing tools like GuestCentric’s all-in-one digital marketing system make the process simple: hoteliers themselves can now create gift certificate types that hold a pre-paid amount that can be spent at any of your hotels. These certificates can be bought online, via web, mobile or social channels and are easily sent by e-mail or delivered by postal services. This is a trend that has been very successful and will continue to be adopted by other hotels since it meets the changing needs of consumers.

We encourage and believe in this practice given the numerous pros, both on the hotelier’s side and the customer’s side.  Regarding the hoteliers’ advantages we can summarize them as the following:

1. Increase visibility of your hotel or chain of hotels, by attracting new customers.
   If someone offers a gift certificate, he is naturally encouraging others to purchase your services. Moreover, if the awarded is satisfied with your business there is a greater probability this person will return for more purchases, increasing customer loyalty.
2. Boost in cash. Given its gift nature, an obvious consequence of this product is that it will typically boost cash in the holiday season. For example, during Christmas time you will certainly notice a peak in demand, but not necessarily in occupation.
3. Fully automated, no additional work. Gift certificates are just another payment method. Your booking engine should be able to redeem them, and if it supports payment gateway integration, cash will be delivered straight into your account with no human intervention.
4. Increase brand awareness. Make sure to customize and include your hotels name and logo in the vouchers. By comprising this information, you will increase brand awareness. This is yet another marketing strategy that will help advertise your service and your hotel brand will reach people that might otherwise not have known about your services.
5. Gift certificates expire. For hoteliers this converts into an additional advantage since cash is not reimbursed to customers who do not use their gift card or do not redeem its entire value.

On the other hand, gift certificates also deliver great benefits to customers. The key advantages are as follows:

1. Flexibility. Gift certificates do not have a specific date to be consumed; they have an expiration date and can be used anytime between the date they are received until the end date. Furthermore, they also allow the cardholder to choose from a range of experiences or inside a certain budget depending on the type of gift certificate.
2. Easy to choose. Flexibility means that consumers can decide quickly to buy. Customers can purchase effortlessly online, within a click, making the acquisition possible anywhere. Such a flexible gift will definitely satisfy the receiver due to its flexibility and convenience.
3. Custom-made to meet specific needs. Buyers can choose to add a message or name. This allows consumers to send an individualized gift, which can be personalized within certain standards in order to best fit their friends or colleagues tastes.
4. Ease of delivery. This is a gift that can travel beyond boundaries. Easily sent abroad, it can be delivered via post or e-mail. Additionally, the latter has the benefit of having less chances of getting lost.

In summary, we believe that hotels can differentiate by offering unique experiences in gift certificates. Through the use of these gifts to promote their spas, gyms, bars, restaurants, nightclubs and other hospitality businesses hoteliers will profit immensely, meanwhile those lagging behind will miss out on a great opportunity to maximize revenue. Gift certificates are a promising way to do so and by bringing such advantages to customers you can be sure that your clients will purchase them.

Hotels can announce amenities regarding vacation rentals and extended stays! Under the administration area properties can now enter the relevant details regarding sections such as vacation rentals, children/pets and internet, as shown in the image above. Hoteliers simply have to click on the relevant amenities.

GuestCentric now allows hotels to communicate in a simple way the benefits of their property, namely the ones that increase the hotel’s attractiveness or contribute to add comfort and convenience.