The Hotel San Jose has a u-shaped history in the city of Austin. Built as a motor hotel in the 1930’s, the property fell into disrepair and operated as a low rent residential hotel for many years. The San Jose emerged in the 90’s as a beacon of rejuvenation on the neglected South Congress strip. Under the ownership of upstart hotelier Liz Lambert, the San Jose has evolved into a truly unique cultural destination for travellers and locals alike. They have a parade for dogs in drag for pete’s sake. How can you not love it? As design lead on the project, I was asked to bring the hotel's digital marketing tools in synch with those used offline.
- URL sanjosehotel.com
- Role Content Strategy, IA, UI Design
- Work done while employed at wallop.ca
Reflecting the physical
The new look is rooted in strong typography and a restrained use of colour and texture. Taking cues from the physical spaces of the hotel itself, minimalism and hints of Texan roots are fundamental qualities to the new design.
For guests and visitors both
The new website has a dual personality. On one hand, it functions as a communication tool for the hotel itself; informing and inspiring travellers looking for a place to stay while in Austin. On the other, it serves the local community as an information source for events occurring in and around the hotel. This was particularly important as some events – South by San Jose for example – are big attractions for the hotel and community alike.
Using hastag based Instagram feeds is something many hotels have difficulty pulling off. Success is often determined by the right mix of demographics and an experience that's interesting enough to justify sharing. Recognizing that guests of the San Jose were keen to share their stay with others, we included an Instagram feed on the gallery page that pulls directly from the #hotelsanjose hashtag. The feed has proven very successful since launch. It sees new images almost daily, keeping the gallery page fresh and unpredictable.
Because the San Jose has a lounge with weekly programming that appeals to travellers and locals alike it was important the new site serve the needs of mobile visitors. We built the site on a responsive framework to ensure folks on the go received the best possible experience.
