Good resort website UX means a guest can answer their main questions within a minute on a phone before they reach the booking engine: how the room types differ, what meals cost, the cancellation, child and pet policies, how to get there, and what there is to do. Clear structure, simple mobile navigation and accessible design make that possible.
What guests check before they book
Watch a few people plan a resort stay and the same questions come up, roughly in this order:
- Is it the right kind of place for us? First impression from the home page images and headline.
- Which room should we take? Differences in size, view, bed type, bathroom and price.
- What about meals? What is included, what extra meals cost, whether there is vegetarian, Jain or child-friendly food, and whether there are restaurants nearby.
- Can we bring the kids, parents or the dog? Child age rules, extra beds, pool safety, pet policy, steps and accessibility.
- How do we get there? Drive time from the main city, road condition, nearest airport and railway station, parking, pick-up options.
- What will we do? Activities on site and nearby, what is included or extra.
- What if plans change? Cancellation and date-change policy.
If any of these needs a phone call to answer, some guests will make the call, and others will go to an OTA listing that shows the answer. A site built around these questions does more for bookings than a new design.
Information architecture that follows those questions
Information architecture is just how your pages and menu are organised. For most small and mid-size resorts, a simple structure works:
| Page | Purpose | Must include |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Who the resort is for and why | Lead image, one-line positioning, "Check availability", links to rooms and offers |
| Rooms | Compare room types | Comparison table, photos, occupancy, starting price |
| Room detail (one per type) | Decide on a room | Full photo set, size, bed, view, bathroom, inclusions, book button |
| Dining | Meals and food options | Meal plans, timings, cuisine, dietary options, prices for extra meals |
| Experiences | What to do | On-site activities, nearby attractions, what is included |
| Offers and packages | Current deals | Each offer linked to its own page |
| Getting here | Directions and access | Map, drive times, transport options, road notes |
| Policies and FAQs | Rules in one place | Check-in and out, children, pets, cancellation, ID, alcohol, noise |
| Contact | Reach a person | Phone, WhatsApp, email, address |
Keep the main menu to these items or fewer. Offer pages for specific campaigns sit under "Offers"; how to build them is in our post on resort landing pages.
Making room differences obvious
Room selection is the step where guests most often get stuck. A comparison table on the rooms page saves them opening four separate pages.
Include for each room type: size in square feet, bed type, maximum adults and children, view, private outdoor space, bathroom type (shower or tub), floor or steps involved, and the starting price. Then one line on who it suits best: "Best for families with two young children" or "Best for couples wanting privacy".
Use the same room names as on your OTA listings and booking engine. A guest who sees "Valley Pool Villa" on Booking.com and "Premium Cottage" on your site may not realise it is the same room.
Policies guests look for, stated plainly
Many resorts bury policies in a PDF or leave them to the booking engine. Put them on one clear page, linked from every room page and the footer, in plain language.
- Check-in and check-out times, and early or late options.
- Children: age bands, extra bed or mattress charges, cots.
- Pets: allowed or not, which rooms, charges, rules.
- Cancellation and date change: how far ahead, what is refunded.
- ID requirements, including for unmarried couples or local residents where your property has a policy.
- Outside food, alcohol, music and quiet hours.
- Accessibility: steps, ramps, ground-floor rooms, bathroom grab rails.
Clear policies also reduce disputes and negative reviews later, because expectations are set before arrival.
Mobile navigation that works with one thumb
Many guests plan and book trips on their phones, so design for the phone first and check the desktop second.
- A sticky "Check availability" or "Book" button visible on every page as the guest scrolls.
- A visible WhatsApp button that opens a chat with a pre-filled message such as "Hi, I'd like to check availability for…".
- A short menu that opens in one tap and does not hide important pages under several layers.
- Tap targets large enough for thumbs, with space between links.
- Phone numbers as tap-to-call links.
- Maps that open in the guest's map app, not an embedded map that is hard to scroll past.
- No pop-ups that cover the screen on arrival.
Speed is part of navigation on mobile. Large uncompressed images and heavy sliders slow pages on mobile data in hill areas, which is exactly where guests check directions. Compress images and remove sliders you do not need.
Accessibility basics
Accessible design helps guests with disabilities, older guests and anyone on a small screen in bright sunlight. Practical basics:
- Text large enough to read without zooming, with strong contrast against the background.
- Descriptive alt text for images, such as "Family cottage with two double beds and a balcony facing the coffee estate".
- Buttons and links with clear labels, not "Click here".
- Forms with visible labels above each field.
- Videos that do not autoplay with sound, and captions where speech matters.
- An honest accessibility section describing steps, ramps and room access, so guests with mobility needs can plan.
The last point is often the most useful. A guest travelling with an elderly parent needs to know whether the cottages are reached by forty steps down a hillside.
Testing the site before you change it
Before redesigning, test what you have. Give three or four people who have not seen the site a task, such as "Find out if you can bring a dog and how much a family room costs for two nights in December", and watch them on their phones without helping. Note where they hesitate. Fix those points first. The post on mobile user testing explains a simple method. For a rebuild, see our web design and development approach.
Frequently asked questions
What pages does a resort website need?
At minimum: home, rooms with a comparison, a page per room type, dining, experiences, offers, getting here, policies and FAQs, and contact. Each should answer one set of guest questions clearly. Add separate pages for each package or campaign you promote. Avoid pages that exist only to look impressive, such as long histories, unless guests actually look for them.
Where should resort policies appear on the website?
On one dedicated policies page, linked from every room page, the booking engine and the footer. Key points, such as child age rules, pet policy and cancellation terms, should also appear in short form beside the book button and on relevant offer pages. Guests should not need to download a PDF or ask on WhatsApp to find them.
How can a resort site be more accessible?
Start with readable text and strong contrast, descriptive alt text on images, labelled buttons and form fields, and no autoplaying sound. Then add an honest section on physical access: steps, ramps, ground-floor rooms, bathroom features and distances between buildings. That information helps older guests and people with disabilities decide confidently, and it reduces surprises on arrival.
Is a WhatsApp button on the website worth adding?
For most Indian resorts, yes. Many guests prefer to ask a quick question on WhatsApp rather than fill in a form or call. Use a button that opens a chat with a pre-filled message, place it where it does not cover content on mobile, and make sure a person answers promptly during the day. An unanswered WhatsApp button does more harm than none.
Where to start
Write down the seven guest questions above and try to answer each from your own site on a phone, timing yourself. Wherever it takes more than a minute, add the answer to the relevant page. Then add a room comparison table and a single policies page linked from every room.