When I first set on to write this article, I thought it is going to be hard choosing between endless selections of great Indonesian hotel websites. When I got started on my research, turns out it was even harder, but for all the wrong reasons.

It took hours upon hours of browsing through Indonesian hotel listings to come up with the nominees. Frankly, I’m a bit disappointed. It really baffles me that Indonesian hotels in general haven’t fully grasps the potential of their websites.

BestoftheWeb:IndoHotelWebsite

For me, a hotel’s website should be as important as their lobby. Both should be build by applying the same principal, which is “good first impression”. I don’t understand why hotels spent millions of dollars to build extravagant and one of a kind lobby but don’t even have the decency to spend thousands to build a great website. Like this one or this one (crappy and uninspired)

Having said that, a great hotel website (besides all the technical stuffs) should have:

1. A great design (with a design concept that inspired by the hotel’s design).
2. Great contents with tons of beautiful pictures of the hotel’s facilities (done by pros).
3. An online booking / reservation application.

Here are some that stand out from the rest:

1. Mulia Hotel, Jakarta

Mulia Hotel Website

This website is as good as it gets.  It has all the requirements above and then some. Design great, pictures extra great, booking application equally great! Every other self-respected hotel should have a website like this and not one of those “look-at-me-i-am-a-part-of-a-global-brand-of-hotels” websites. Don’t get me wrong, big brands like Hiltons, Hyatts, and others absolutely set the highest standard in the quality of services and facilities. But in terms of building their online presence, they are light years behind Mulia Hotel’s website.

2. Ayana Resort and Spa, Bali

Ayana resort Website

If there is anything I love more than a great website is a great website with a lot of white spaces. White-spaces websites are now dangerously becoming a lost art in modern web design. Everyone seem to fall in love with patterns and illustrations as background. It is good to see that someone out there still have the balls to design one, especially as good as this one. This website can be described in three words… simple, elegant, informative. Great Job!

3. Jimbaran Puri Resort and Ubud Hanging Gardens

Ubud Hanging Garden Website

Jimbaran Puri website

Number 3 in my list is more of a tie. Both are twin websites developed by the Orient Express group. Now, these are not micro-sites, they are separate individual site using the same templates.  It’s a unique concept, and it works! Not just for these 2 sites, they use basically one template for dozens of websites under the orient express group. The best thing about the websites is that they’ve invest a high level of efforts on each of the site. I don’t usually endorse a full page animation website because of the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) factor, but this website is very good. It deserve a comfort spot at number 3 on my list.

4. Kempinski Hotel, Jakarta

This website is an anomaly. It is part of the global Kempinski hotel website, which as I mention earlier usually crappy and uninspired. Yet they’ve managed to put a lot of efforts into every individual hotel micro-sites. The design is very modern, use black background for the most part but doesn’t give a dark look whatsoever. The pictures selections really stand out. I like the fact that the booking application is right there in every page so audiences can easily book a room. That is the main purpose of the website, to get people to actually come to the hotel.

5. Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel, Bali

Discovery Kartika website

Open the website, get a scotch tape, stick it on your monitor exactly where the logo is, and you got yourself a good hotel website (after all, what’s in a logo right? Wrong! ). Beside the logo from the late 20’s, this website has all the requirements of a great website. The content, above all, is what stand out the most for me. Well-planned content architecture makes it easier for audiences to get information. The design is very simple. The sandy-beach look could be more enhanced to get more of a beach feel, but overall it’s good. From a more technical stand point, this website gets plus points for fast access and good usability.