Rooms
A Book button on every page that goes straight to your own booking system, so fewer guests wander off to a booking site that takes a cut. Each room type gets a page with photos, sizes and prices.
Four kinds of guest, one website · 1 of 4
Websites forplaces peoplewant to visit.
We build websites for independent hotels and venues, and look after them so you don't have to. The menus stay up to date, the booking buttons work, and you get same day replies when you need something changed.
The concept is free for now, first come, first served. Had an email from us?
Built well, then keeps getting better.
I'm Ben Pollock, and I've been building websites for more than 20 years, most of them for clients in the north of the UK and Ireland. Better Places Digital is my studio for places people want to visit.
We build the site, and then we do the part that usually gets forgotten: keeping it working and up to date, for as long as you want us to.
Who we work with
Ideal
A hotel with a restaurant or bar, and a room for weddings and events.
Good
Two of those. A wedding venue with bedrooms, or a restaurant with rooms.
Less likely
A chain, or a group with a marketing department. A B&B or holiday let rarely needs this much, but if you need some support, reach out and we'll see what we can do.
Restaurant
Menus as proper pages that read well on a phone, with a PDF link if you want one. No pinching and zooming. Change a dish or a price yourself, or send us the whole new menu and we'll do it.
Four kinds of guest, one website · 2 of 4
Bar
Opening times that are right, what's on this week, and the drinks list. Locals check these more than anything else on the site, and they're the first things to go out of date.
Four kinds of guest, one website · 3 of 4
Weddings & events
Capacities and prices up front, real photos of the room dressed, and an enquiry form that asks for the date and the numbers and reaches the right person. The same goes for parties, funerals and meetings.
Four kinds of guest, one website · 4 of 4
Bookings, requests and enquiries
Have a booking system? We'll work with it. No system? We'll add simple ways to book, request or enquire. Need more? We'll look at the options together. The site is always yours.
Things we found on hotel and venue websites this autumn
All real, and all on the sites of busy, well-reviewed places. It's rarely anyone's fault. Websites drift while you're running service.
58 MBThe weight of one hotel's homepage. Plenty of phones give up before it has loaded.
25.8 secHow long a hotel's main photo took to appear on a phone.
Page not foundWhat couples saw when they tapped Weddings on a hotel's site.
Oct 2023The date on a kids menu linked from a restaurant's homepage.
© 2018In the footer of a venue with a 100-seat restaurant and no events page.
One PDFA hotel's whole functions menu, with no way to enquire from it.
No tap to callA phone number you have to copy out by hand, on three of the sites we checked.
15 secHow long a pop-up covered a hotel's homepage on every first visit from a phone.
Still waiting on a change you asked for weeks ago?
Most of what we find isn't a design problem. It's a small job that nobody got round to. The person who built the site is busy with newer work, or the agency has a queue, or the reply comes a fortnight later with a quote for an hour's work.
A fair test: send whoever looks after your site one small change today. Note when you get a reply, and when the change appears. If it's the same day, you're in good hands and should stay put.
How changes work with us
The wait we hear about: a fortnightBetter Places: same day replies
- Menus, prices, opening times and events live within two working days
- Small things you can change yourself in the site admin
- No ticket numbers. An account contact who knows your site
Had an email from us?
It'll have been about one specific thing on your website. A button that doesn't work on a phone, a menu from two Christmases ago, a page that takes ten seconds to appear.
The email says what's wrong and how to put it right. You can pass it to whoever looks after your site and never speak to us. That's fine, and it's why we sent it.
Check it yourself, in two minutes
- Open your website on your phone, on mobile data and not your own wifi.
- Count the seconds before you can read anything.
- Try to book a room, then a table, using one thumb.
- Tap your phone number. Does it ring?
See your own site redesigned before you pay anything
We're building our portfolio of hotel and venue work, so for the moment we'll design a new homepage for you at no charge. It's a working web page, sent as a private link. First come, first served, and we take on [N] a month.
- Clear ways in for rooms, the restaurant, the bar and events
- Your own photos and words, not stock ones
- A short list of what we'd fix on the current site
Four steps, and you can stop at any of them
1
You send your web address
Two boxes to fill in. About a minute, and no call to book.
Today
2
We send your concept
A private link to your new homepage, with the list of fixes.
About a week later
3
You decide
Go ahead at the fixed price, or leave it there. One line saying no is plenty.
In your own time
4
We build it, then look after it
The full site, timed around your busy season. Then we keep it right.
Live in 4 to 6 weeks
What it costs
for a new website. Every price is fixed and agreed before we start.
- Design concept
- Your homepage redesigned, plus the list of fixes. First come, first served.
- Free for now
- A new website
- Pages for your rooms, restaurant, bar, weddings and events, around the booking systems you already use.
- From £800
- Looking after it
- Hosting, backups, security, and your changes made within two working days. Price held for three years.
- £100 a month
We're building our hotel and venue portfolio. Here's what you can see today.
Questions we get asked
Yes, for now. We're building a portfolio of hotel and venue work, so we're designing concepts at no charge, first come, first served. There's no card to enter and no sales call to sit through.
If you're independent and you have more than one thing to fill, yes. A hotel with a restaurant and a function room is the ideal. A wedding venue with bedrooms, or a restaurant with rooms, fits as well. If you're part of a chain, or you run a B&B or a holiday let, we're probably not the right fit, but if you need some support reach out and we will see what we can do.
Because we found a fault on your website that a guest would notice. We wrote once, to the contact address published on your site. If you'd rather not hear from us again, say so and you won't.
No. If you already have one for rooms or tables, we work with it, and the new site sends people to it from every page. If you don't, we can add simple ways for guests to book, request or enquire on the site itself. And if you need something more capable, we'll look at the options with you.
Good. Pass them our email, because the fix is usually a small one. If it's still there in a month, you'll know how quickly things get done, and the concept is here whenever you want a second opinion.
You get a same day reply. Menus, prices, opening times and events are live within two working days, and you can change small things yourself in the site admin.
No. The monthly price is held for three years, and you can stop with a month's notice.
WordPress. You own it, your team can update menus and rooms, and any web developer can take it on if you ever move away from us.
Send us your web address.
We'll send back your homepage, redesigned, and the list of what we'd fix. Free for now, first come, first served, and no call unless you ask for one.
Rather write? hello@betterplaces.digital
Better Places Digital. Websites for places people want to visit.