Knights Inn Hotel Website Design

We were tasked with creating an entirely new and intuitive hotel website for the Knights Inn brand which had previously lived on its parent brand’s website.

The new digital experience was intended for guests looking to book accommodation on the go, so the website had to be clean, simple, and super mobile-friendly.

The purpose of the website is to increase the Knights Inn hotels’ visibility and bookings by optimizing it for marketing campaigns and engagement.

The project included planning, design, development, and/or implementation of:

• Hotel search flow
• Content migration from RedLion.com (150+ hotel pages)
• Redirect adjustments
• Brand theme applied to SynXis booking engine

• Short deadline. We had only 6 weeks for this end-to-end custom website design project, including migrating over 150 hotel pages over from their old ‘digital home’.
• Booking journey. Bookings happen on a third-party platform, so we had to come up with a user flow that would make the hotel search and booking processes easy and seamless.
• Limited messaging opportunities, especially about pricing. Because of the limited integration options with the third-party booking platform, we could not display room rates, nor could we approximate them due to dynamic pricing. This was flagged as a concern as the website was meant to serve a price-sensitive audience.
• Migrating large volumes of content. We had to migrate over 160 hotel pages from an entirely different CMS which, if handled manually, would have taken weeks (and, remember, we had 6 weeks total for the entire project!).

1. Measure Twice, Cut Once (a.k.a Research & Planning)

To minimize risks and prevent delays, we dedicated time to research, competitor and user analysis, and thorough website planning that considered any possible disruptors to the project.

We also scheduled weekly client meetings to expedite materials collection and approvals — some of the most common roadblocks in custom web design projects.

2. Streamlining Search & Booking User Paths

Most of our audiences were identified as budget-conscious guests looking for convenient roadside lodging. They usually have short booking windows and tend to book accommodation on the go, which meant that searching by location would be the most convenient functionality for them.

We implemented both an auto-fill search bar and an interactive map with all property locations to facilitate the search process. The search bar allows searches by hotel name, city, and even address.

Search results pages clearly outline the booking steps and highlight each property’s location and amenities.

Once they reach the hotel page, users can select the date range and proceed to the booking platform.

We also focused on using clear language and outlining the booking process, so the user understands their next step and the entire search and booking flow.

3. Communicating Affordability without Rates

As we lacked pricing information and social proof, we developed badge-like icons that reassure users they would enjoy budget-friendly rates and direct, hassle-free online bookings.

4. Migrating Large Volumes of Content

We optimized the hotel page design to match the content fields closely to the existing pages and we identified trusted plug-ins that allowed us to automate the content migration and minimize manual content management work.