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Roundup: The Top
10 Hotel Sites Web site preferences are very subjective – if you ask several people about their favorites, you will likely get many different answers. However, as keeper of one of the largest collections of meeting industry favorites at my web site (www.corbinball.com), I have been tracking hotel web sites for years, and would like to offer my choices. My primary selection factors in order of importance are: Content -- a site must have lots of useful information – why else would the average visitor go there Ease of use – the site must load quickly and be easy to navigate A creative idea – some of the sites were selected as they have come of with a novel marketing or display idea Aesthetics – A pleasing design is great – it encourages site exploration and establishes brand recognition. However, if you do not have content, speed and ease of use, the most beautiful site around will not be effective. The
sites are not ranked in strict order of preference. Some are listed for a good
idea, others are for lots of content making direct comparisons difficult. So, in
the order that made the most sense to me conceptually, here are my favorites: Turnberry Isle Resort www.turnberryisle.com The Turnberry Isle Resort takes the meeting planners sales packet and puts it online. If you follow the “meetings” link, you find menus, AV info, floor plans, billing procedures, and more. This improves customer service and saves money in printing and mailing costs. This information can be easily posted and should be the minimum that all meeting hotels have at their web sites. This site is easy to navigate and has a streaming video tour of the property as well. SwanDolphin Hotel www.swandolphin.com This is and excellent example
of “mass customization” for the hotel industry.
In the meeting planning section, there is a P.E.R.K (Personalized
Electronic Response Kit) link. Once you fill out the profile form, you will be
sent a specialized password that provides an individually customized site for
you, greeting you by the your name and the name of your company on numerous
pages. This site also has 360-degree views of public space, multi-lingual
streaming video, and a great way of handling floor plans. PlanSoft (www.plansoft.com) PlanSoft is the most comprehensive database of hotels with meeting space on the Web. It is well organized, highly searchable and is an indispensable resource for meeting professionals. Detailed meeting space specifications, web links, and contact information is included. Throw out the meeting facility guides – this is more comprehensive and up-to-date than any paper guide. EventSource (www.eventsource.com), StarCite (www.starcite.com) and AllMeetings (www.allmeetings.com) also provide good meeting facility databases and deserve mention. Hotelview www.hotelview.com This site employs streaming video and audio technology to take “virtual” video tours of more than 100 properties around the world. As bandwidth improves, these small pictures will progress toward standard video in appearance, provide sight and sound images much richer than other forms of promotion. The site has an easy-to-use clickable map to find your destinations. Hotelstravel www.hotelstravel.com Hotelstravel.com claims web links to over 75,000 lodging and travel resources. Click on “hotel chains,” for example, and get links to principal web sites for more than 220 hotel chains A complete set of airline and airport links are available as well. If you are trying to find lodging in “Smallville” this is the site to try. Hilton Hotels www.hilton.com
Hilton has been a leader with hotel web sites. It is a fast and clean site. Following the “Meetings & Groups” link provides free downloadable floor plans (using a free version of CEO’s Optimum Settings room diagramming software), and slick online RFP form (for groups of 10 or more), short term (30-45 day) Group Value Dates, and a complete directory of facilities. Holiday Inn www.basshotels.com/holiday-inn Holiday Inn gets a nod from the historical perspective. They were the first to allow web-based real-time sleeping room reservations way back in the Internet “dark ages” of 1995. Their current site continues to be easy to use. Following the “Meetings/Group Events” link on the home page. The next page narrows it down to “Group Event” (weddings, parties, etc.) and “Meetings.” La Mansión del Rio www.lamansion.com The simple navigation scheme and the consistent and elegant design encourages visitors to explore. The graphics support the historical nature of this San Antonio hotel, with loads of content for group business as well as the casual traveler. The opening splash screen sets the tone with a slide show and a flamenco guitar flourish. This site has it all. The “dining” section, for example, has details and 360° views of the restaurant and lounge, information about the chefs, a dining reservation form, culinary events, and even the recipe of the month. Find the “golden cascarone egg” and fill out the form (they want to know who you are) to win a two-night stay and a private barge tour for two. W Hotels www.whotels.com
I both love and hate the design of this site. It is one of the best examples of the web design supporting the hotel image. The graphics, very smooth style and layout all bring to mind the trendy upscale traveler theme that this relatively new hotel chain is known for. Check out the virtual tour using the IPIX 360° views (then best 360° viewer around). The “W meetings” section has basic floor plans and also highlights the technology in meeting and guest rooms. All this is great. However, what I dislike is the annoying interstitial (smaller, pop-up) window that opens while playing music. This slows the opening page, requires effort to close this window, assaults the site visitor with music that he or she may or may not like, and distracts from appreciating the opening page. Hyatt Hotels www.hyatt.com The Hyatt site made my list for its fresh, fast design and easy navigation structure. It is not loaded with graphics, instead opting for basic text allowing the site to open quickly. “Meeting Planning” is a prime navigation link on the home page leading to a searchable facilities guide, request for proposal, value dates, and more. This is a great example where less is more. A site can be simply designed, easy to use, and still bring forward a highly professional image. Honorable mention: Ramada www.ramada.com This site, in general, is your standard hotel chain directory. However, it has a great idea for meeting planners: the Ramada Events and Meetings Organizer (REMO) – a series of 10 checklists for meeting planners. These include timelines, budgets, meeting prospectus, arranging food & beverage, Audio Visual, event chart. Helpful content will bring people back. If you find this article helpful, please let me know by signing the Guest Book in the Contact Corbin Section.. |
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