Portarlington Grand Hotel
Website Strategy, Design & Implementation
About The Client
Established in 1888, the Portarlington Grand Hotel is a historic icon of The Bellarine Peninsula, offering guests drinks, meals and accommodation for over 130 years.
Overlooking Portarlington beach and harbour, the Hotel is a place for locals to gather and celebrate and invite their visiting friends and family too.
Travellers find a sample of the Bellarine’s best produce at the Hotel and from there can explore the region and all it has to offer before returning to the comfort of the Hotel.
The Portarlington Grand Hotel has recently undertaken a major renovation and refurbishment to modernise the Hotel and offer guests more comfortable accommodation.
The Hotel is owned by the Little Group, which also owns and operates Port Phillip Ferries that run from Portarlington and Geelong to Melbourne Docklands.
The Client’s Problem
With the hotel going through an extensive renovation and refurbishment they also decided to rebrand the hotel to reflect the changes to the establishment.
The client’s current website didn’t reflect the new brand and style of the newly renovated Hotel. They required a significant update of content and a redesign of the site. The Hotel’s new brand positioned it as the gateway to The Bellarine, which needed to be reflected in its marketing material.
On reopening, the Hotel wanted to offer accommodation bookings, table reservations and sell gift vouchers online, which wasn’t possible on its existing website.
The client had the additional problem of promoting the Hotel for the upcoming summer holiday season while the renovations were still in development. Putting them in a situation where they could not capture any new photography or video for social media or the website. They could not take any bookings until the Hotel was open, so they needed a way of capturing visitors details until they had an official opening date.
The Propeld Solution
Propeld worked with the Portarlington Grand Hotel to produce a website that engages with their customers and manages the complications of taking different types of bookings.
In our initial consultation with the Hotel, we developed a strategy for collecting customers details and recommended booking platforms available to handle dining, accommodation and gift card purchases.
We set up lead capture forms to encourage users to subscribe to the site and make function enquiries to inform them of details about the reopening and future promotions.
The site offers users integrated booking systems for dining and accommodation. We implemented an eCommerce shop to the site, allowing customers to purchase gift vouchers and have them emailed automatically.
To capitalise on the strong relationship between the Hotel and the Ferry, we facilitated promoting packages throughout the site, giving visitors great convenience and encouraging them to explore the whole region.
Even though the Hotel was still under development, the outcome was a visually stunning website that showcased the new brand and available photography.
