Contest $200 One Page PSD Design for City Specific Hotel Reservations Website

Hi all,

I am again in need of a gorgeous PSD file for one of my hotel reservations websites that sells hotel rooms in one city only, namely the city of Banff in Alberta, Canada.

Firstly, I will later list a few websites that I like for various reasons, BUT that doesn't mean I want it to look exactly like that. Those examples are merely for your inspiration only. I repeat, do NOT simply copy any of my examples.

Ok, now we have that, hopefully, out of the way, here are some details:

- This is for a one page PSD design only, so no coding needed whatsoever.
- My website is about booking hotels and hotels only in the wonderful city of Banff in the province Alberta of Canada.
- Because of this, I want the design to reflect a Canadian feel, up to you how you can incorporate that.
- Design should look PROFESSIONAL, modern and inspire confidence, as people need to be comfortable spending money on hotel reservations
- The use of images in both navigation and H1/H2/H3 should be limited or non-existing. Meaning that both navigation and H1/H2/H3 should be plain text for SEO purposes
- The total width of the design can vary, BUT the main content area should be a minimum of 960px width.
- The most important part of the website is the search box, as I want visitors to use that. This means that the search box should stand out and be on the left side and of course above the fold.
- There needs to be room for a nice picture of Banff.
- There needs to be room to list hotel specials.
- There needs to be room to list regular hotels.
- There needs to be room for a certain amount of text that I will write about the city of Banff.
- In the header there needs to be room for a minimum of 5 links to various parts of my website.

Below I will list some examples of websites that I like, but again, do NOT simply copy those design. Also, all of my examples are from websites that sell hotel rooms worldwide and my website sells hotel rooms only in one specific city, therefore it is also impossible to copy the following designs as some parts don't make sense for website that only sells hotel rooms in one city.

OK, here are some websites that I like:

http://www.hoteltravel.com/canada/banff/hotels.htm
What I like is: Search box stands out and is on the left side. There is a nice picture of Banff. The 'exclusive hot deals' section for hotel specials stands out. There are other places where other hotels are showcased. The text about the city of Banff is there, meaning it is there in the source code so Search Engines index it, but it doesn't get in the way of precious screen real estate. Same for the hotels map.

http://www.booking.com/city/ca/banff.en.html
What I like is: Search box stands out and is on the left side. The design looks fresh and less cluttered than the previous example. It shows different Places of Interest together with Other Accommodation options.

http://www.hotels.com/de170124/hotels-banff-canada/
What I like is: Search box stands out and is on the left side. Has a fast loading map of the hotels in Banff. Lists various Landmarks and Hotel Types.

http://www.hotelclub.com/Canada/Banff-AB-hotels/
What I like is: Search box is on the left. Lists popular searches by amenities and star rating.

http://www.agoda.com/north_america/canada/banff_ab.html
What I like is: Search box is on the left. Different sections for Trending and Popular hotels. Fast loading hotel map. Lists hotels near popular places.

Think that is about it. On purpose I am not giving the URL of my current website, as then people will simply make minor changes to that design, even though I tell them specifically that I don't want that. A logo can always be incorporated later, but of course is nice if you also have ideas about that. Just remember that my website needs to have a Canadian feel and sells hotel rooms in Banff.

Oh, almost forgot. I do not have a deadline for entries as I am not in a huge hurry. I just want to be able to choose from various good designs first. After I feel that there are sufficient good looking designs, I will specify an ending date of +1 or +2 days so other contestants can still enter. If there is more than one design that is useful to me, there will be prices for 2nd and 3rd place as well.

 

I do prefer for everyone to reply in this thread together with the design, but if you really are not sure about your quality then I will also accept entries through PM, but again, I would prefer to have them all here in this thread, thanks.

 

Hi tfbpa,

Here is my entry. I'm thinking of having the header slide different images of the city. Let me know what you think.

 

Finally a proper contest, will be entering this one in the next few days, cheers!

 

Good luck to us. @sparkle92, don't make it too good. ok?

 

@snoobdesigns: thanks for your entry, looks nice.

Can you tell me what the width is of the main content, as it looks like it is 950px and should be a minimum of 960px because my hotel provider's content requires at least that amount.

Also, I think it may be nice to have more hotels displayed. Is there anything you can think of so that is possible?

To have a different perspective of your design, is it possible to create a 3 column design as well?

Thanks.

 

@snoobdesigns: sorry forgot to mention...

For all hotels there need also needs to be displayed the price of the hotel per night. In addition, for the Specials there needs to be displayed: the normal/striked out price, the promo price and something like "Instant Saving: On Sale Now -> Save up to 20% on selected dates".

Thanks to incorporate that into the design.

 

Ok. Here you go. Yes its 960px for the content.

 

@snoobdesigns: Thanks, like this one better. No need for any changes now. At the end when more entries have arrived I will probably ask you for some changes, but that is not necessary at the moment.

 

@tfbpa, ok. Thanks for the feedback. I wish I could give you the link to the 100% sized preview, so you could see clearly. But I can't put links on the post at the moment.

 

@snoobdesigns: indeed that would be nice. Maybe you can upload it into the same folder as the other 3, is actually also easy for me to keep track as I already have that URL.

Also, can you tell me how you envision the header picture should react to screen-sizes larger than 1024px and smaller than 1400px?

 

@tfbpa, ok I'll have the design uploaded there. For the header, it can easily be done with javascript. The header will react and resize accordingly. If you need help on that, let me know.

 

Hi here go..

Let me know the feedback or changes.

Design Preview

Thanks!!!

 

@ajmalhuzz: thanks, looks nice and fresh.

However, I would like to ask for a few changes.

Can you change the orange colors of "Check Availability", strikeout price section and "book" section to something darker, or perhaps even the same red color as in the logo as I think that might look more nice and more consistent.

Also, it seems that my hotel provider only gives an option for nr of hotel rooms in the search box, so please get rid of the "adults" and "children" in the searchbox. This is actually for everybody and I apologize for not mentioning this earlier.

In the header are currently links to change language, sign in and register. Can you please change that into 5 links to various other parts of my website?

Thanks.

 

Okay sure will make the changes and update u soon.

Thanks!

 

http://gabimolocea.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/homepage3.png
my entry.

 

@gabimolocea: thanks for your attempt, but can you please re-read every single word I have written in both the opening post and my replies, as I don't think ANY of my requirements are met by your design... Or maybe you just gave the wrong link for another customer of yours...

 

hi,
this is my try:
http://oi46.tinypic.com/30agzt4.jpg
also, if you want to see it without pictures on the hotel presentation http://oi48.tinypic.com/308uyix.jpg
also, anything can be changed/modified.
cheers!

 

@Sake7: thanks, looks ok to me but my wife really likes it. Will ask for some changes later, but have to do some more thinking.

@Everybody: I am hoping that some more entries come in!

 

Hey there, here's my try, there are few things I wasn't completely sure about but I'll wait for your feedback, thanks!
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/18757952/banff.png

Cheers!