QT HotelsCheck out of ordinary
QT Hotels are a collection of quirky, individual boutique hotels but the website experience did not reflect this personality.
OVERVIEW
Belonging to the EVENT Hotels & Entertainment portfolio alongside Rydges and Atura, the booking process was similarly convoluted and as a result, most bookings were happening on third party sites. QT’s site also had a much lower conversion rate than its sister hotel sites.Furthermore, the luxurious feel that makes a stay at QT so memorable was distinctly lacking in the online experience.
RESULTS
Halved the Number of Clicks to Book a RoomIncrease in Meeting & Event Enquiries
Entice the guest with glimpses of a life less ordinary, while still maintaining a clear focus on increasing conversions.
Challenge
The individual hotels each had such gorgeous, sumptuous imagery but none of it was really singing as we knew it could. In an effort to showcase the hotel, a lot of the imagery was oversized and causing issues with users scrolling.
The mobile and desktop UX were completely removed from one another. Hotel information was difficult to find with two navs and hidden content, so we had to address the issues in discovery and conversion that users were struggling with.
As part of the EVENT portfolio, we also needed to align to the Rydges / Atura UX while still showcasing the QT quirkiness and flavour for each individual hotel, with QT’s premium tone.
From the outset of the project, we knew the challenge lay in solving the UX and navigational issues.
Solution
With QT’s mandate to be creative in everything they do, and making each touch point a delightful experience, we wanted the UX to stand out from the ordinary.
After many whiteboard sessions and rounds of rigorous user testing, we were certain our elegant side booking panel would make booking - a room, a restaurant, an event, or a spaQ treatment - always easy, with the ‘Book’ button ever present. We also simplified the main nav, ensuring all content was easily accessible and found in more logical groupings.
With a portfolio of ten QT hotels across Australia and New Zealand, being able to see all the hotels available at a glance was key.
Our elegant side booking panel would make sure that booking - a room, a restaurant, an event, or a spaQ treatment - was always easy, with the ‘Book’ button ever present.
On the old site, filtering and finding of hotels is difficult and was only possible by scrolling down a long list of hotels. Our elegant slide-out nav showcases all hotels at once on desktop, and on mobile the user is presented with the hotel selection front and centre. Hero tiles with oversize imagery highlight each QT’s individual personality and flair.
With a third of our site audience C-suite executives, the standards for design were high, and we needed to find the most appealing way to showcase the premium rooms and suites.
We created full-screen carousels to immerse the user and feel they were already within the QT’s sumptuous walls. The hardest decision for them to make is whether to enjoy a Deluxe or an Executive suite!
Mobile features large image tiles, with Rooms delineated from the more impressive Suites via different modules.
The new brand personality needed to be reflected throughout the site, so it was the small details which brought the QT’s quirky and playful tone to the forefront, such as button styles and drop-downs.
QT Hotels also create magnificent experiences for events, be they work-related or personal celebrations, but the offering was hidden on the current site. We wanted to make it easy for interested event organisers to envisage their occasion so we simplified search, segmented function types and heroed QT event spaces in various locations.
The ability to book from any page keeps the user always close to conversion, allowing us to maintain focus on our core objective, while also inviting our users to a world less ordinary through the stand-out site design.
Redefining the boutique hotel industry sector through clever, stand-out design which brings the QT brand offering to life.
