Combining hospitality with entertainment may be a niche industry a limited number of resort complexes fall into. When we think about similar websites, the ones that come to mind are Disney, some theme parks, all-inclusive stays and Dollywood. Great Wolf Lodge fits the category because it offers entertainment through their water park, live events, Magi Quest game, arcade and other on-site events. At the same time, the venue is a hotel and conference center, including restaurants. Once a family arrives at Great Wolf Lodge, everything they need is contained and there is no reason to go elsewhere for dining or basic necessities.
The market size for the resort industry is $300.03 billion, with predicted growth to $945.38 billion by 2030. Competition is limited, but the company still created a beautiful website that is functional and user-friendly. Since much of the experience is enhanced by the company’s app, we will be looking at it in this award post, too.
How We Selected the Award Winner
To keep things consistent, we try to use similar criteria as we evaluate websites in each category and choose which one to feature as an award-winner. Some industries call for additional features, such as a way to book rooms, schedule appointments, or check accounts. This month, we looked at several elements.
| Ease of checking pricing and availability – UX | Aesthetics |
| Speed | Mobile Responsiveness |
| Calls to Action | Navigation |
We also looked at layout, typography, visuals and consistency when choosing a winner. For hospitality sites, we ask if the site offers clear details on pricing and if the user can book a room without taking further action. What added value do resorts have as a whole that is or isn’t on the site?
Winner: Great Wolf Lodge
One of our staff took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio in June with their family. One thing we enjoy at Designerly is giving you a first-hand experience of how a website works, what needs tweaking and what you can duplicate for a successful design.
Black Wolf Lodge was founded by the Waterman brothers, Jack and Andrew, in Wisconsin Dells. The indoor water park was successful enough to be bought out by Great Lakes Companies Inc. in 1999. Since then, the name was changed to Great Wolf Lodge and the headquarters moved to Madison, Wisconsin. Today, the headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois, and the company has over 12,000 employees across 22 resorts in North America.
Our staff member visited the Lodge in Mason, Ohio, where they enjoyed amenities such as the lazy river, baby splash pool, water slides, a wave pool, arcade and mini golf. The 79,000 square foot indoor water park is a huge draw year-round.
One feature of the lodges that everyone seems to enjoy is a Magi Quest game, where participants go on quests with a magic wand and seek to solve puzzles by finding clues, virtual gold coins and solving mysteries. The hunt takes you from floor to floor, making it a great way to wear kids out so they sleep well at night.
If you love design as much as we do, you’ll appreciate the theming and user-friendliness of the resort’s layout. The inside looks like a lodge, with animal theming and characters such as wolves, raccoons and squirrels. The theming continues into the rooms, as well. Since our focus for these awards is on website design, let’s look at what we loved about Great Wolf Lodge’s site.
Why We Chose Great Wolf Lodge as Our Winner
Although visiting a Great Wolf Lodge can be a lot of fun, that isn’t the reason we chose it for our award. After all, there are hundreds of resorts to look at and many have excellent websites. It was the combination of a highly functioning and visually pleasing website combined with an app that makes a visit easier because of its excellent user experience (UX).
Hero Video
When you land on GreatWolf.com, the first thing you’ll see is a video as the hero image, filling the header. A transparent logo is in the upper left corner, some text welcoming you and a bright yellow call to action (CTA), inviting you to choose the lodge closest to you. The video captures the fun of the resort, showcasing the water park, dining, miniature golf, bowling and themed rooms.
You can repeat this effect by creating a video that showcases the best features of your business. Whether you run a resort or a bakery, you can show clips that highlight your personality as a brand.
Navigation
Once you select one of the 22 lodges around the USA, you will get a navigation bar across the top of the page. The navigation bar works because the categories are limited to seven options, with drop down subcategories for a deep dive. Select from Water Park & Fun, Suites, Dining, Groups, Deals, Day Pass or Book Your Stay.
How can you improve the navigation for your web design? Limit your main categories to seven or fewer. Make sure they are broad enough to encompass your subcategories. If there are areas of your site people visit frequently, make sure they are accessible via a dropdown menu.
Color Palette
The website uses a deep blue, which is perfect for a waterpark resort like this one. They use lots of earthy tones to showcase the lodge-like feel of the venue. The pops of yellow add some complementary colors to the design. Everything else is neutral such as white or brown.
You can take your design up a notch by selecting a color scheme that reflects your mission and industry. Stay consistent with color choices throughout your design.
Booking Software
For a resort, the ability to book easily is crucial. Great Wolf Lodge nails this aspect of their design, making it intuitive and user-friendly. Notice how you can book by clicking the link in the navigation bar that reads “Book Your Stay” or by adding the check in date, check out date, number of guests and the “Book Now” CTA button, which is one of the few things on the site in red to grab attention.
If you run a salon, take reservations, or own a resort, make sure your booking software functions flawlessly for excellent UX.
The App
Once you book a room at the Great Wolf Lodge, the system will encourage you to download the app. Although the app is separate from the website, the experience at the resort is so intertwined that we thought it worth mentioning as part of something your small business can do to improve user experience.
Some of the features of the app include:
- Check in at a kiosk and skip the line at the front desk
- Pull up dining options and order food on the app
- Keep track of any dining credits and what you’ve spent
- Learn what free activities are going on at any given time
- Pull up a map to locate your favorite locations
- Get customer support
- Compliment a staff member
- Report something lost
- Book your next trip
Adding an app is beneficial for many businesses. Only you can decide if it’s worth the added cost to create one. You may find sending out SMS reminders is more effective depending on your business model.
What We Would Do Different
While the website and app work well for the needs of guests, there are a few things we think would take the design up a notch or two. Getting to the details on how much is left on dining credits isn’t easy. You have to go through numerous steps to locate the details.
We would like to see more functionality, such as the ability to make reservations for the nicer dining establishments for dinner, preorder Build-a-Bear to better control costs and seeing what is available in the gift shop and fresh food market. For the website, we wouldn’t change much. The mobile version is excellent and the site functions well, is nice to look at and has booking features.
In all, the Great Wolf Lodge website covers multiple locations and the needs of site visitors. It is a good model to study for excellence in design and functionality. Look at the parts you can apply to your own website and pull from their example. If you get a chance to visit one of their 22 locations, you’ll find it a fun place to visit, as well.
