Loging in China

LiAn Lodge from forest key on Vimeo.

Li-An Lodge is an ethereal place located among spectacular rice terraces in an ancient Chinese village. The lodge is built entirely out of wood by the traditional Chinese technique of tongue and groove without a single nail. The photos alone of this magnificent place are enough to convince anyone to book a room especially since photos are taken by renowned photographer and Li-An Lodge owner Keren Su. Unfortunately, photos did not have a central role on the pervious Li-An Lodge website and, consequently, the breath-taking natural environment and Mr. Su's photography expertise were not given due justice.

With buuteeq photos play a pivotal role across all marketing materials. The buuteeq BackOffice has an easy to use Photo Gallery for organizing and inserting photos into various slideshows and articles for the website. Photos can be uploaded quickly and easily then cropped, arranged, given titles and short descriptions which enhances Google search. The homepage slideshow showcases large, compelling photos and ensures that guests receive the best first impression possible of the property. Photos appear just as clear and brilliant on the Li-An Lodge Facebook page and dedicated iPhone application which can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes Store. With buuteeq the LiAn Lodge now has a website that takes full advantage of the exquisite photography so guests can fully grasp the grandeur of the property and its surrounding environment.

Yangshuo Mountain Retreat from forest key on Vimeo.

The Yangshuo Mountain Retreat is located on the breath-taking Dragon River in China in a tranquil environment away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Over several years the hotel's website had grown into a colossus, full of interesting articles on the region, activities, food, culture, and the major tourist attractions of the Yangshuo and Guilin areas which are red-hot tourist destinations in China's booming tourist market. However with this breadth of content a really big design challenge emerged that made the information hard to navigate for guests and could be frustrating to use--contrary to the peace of mind and relaxation that are key brand ingredients of this beautiful hotel.

The primary design challenge was the need for a clear information architecture that would organize the layout of the information on the website so that it would be better looking and easier to use. With the new design it was important to highlight certain areas of the site so guests could find the information, get room and location information (two key selling points), and along the way appreciate all the extra content without it distracting from the key goals of promoting guest reservations.

buuteeq clients may initially wonder how the buuteeq DMS can build them a website that’s as unique as their property, especially with a hotel like the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat which had so many custom pages of rich content that they wanted to preserve. The answer is that the buuteeq system coaxes hotels towards great information architecture, while still allowing highly customizable content with the hotel's own brand. Every page reflects the personal style of the hotel and the system organizes the pages in a way that makes sense to the online shopper. With Yangshuo Mountain Retreat's new buuteeq powered website all of the unique content of the old website has been preserved, but with a much easier to use and understand presentation that looks gorgeous.