BEST WESTERN HOTELS GB
Redesigned for Results: A Faster, Smarter Booking Experience
Overview
Best Western Hotels GB needed more than just a fresh coat of paint. Their GB website was underperforming – slow to adapt, difficult to manage, and failing to reflect the evolving needs of today’s digital-first travellers.
We partnered with them to deliver a complete UX-led redesign focused on improving usability, conversion, accessibility and brand perception.
Activities
- Research + Discovery
- UX Design
- User Testing
- Art Direction
- UI Design
Redesigning with Purpose: A Flexible, User-Led Strategy
Best Western set out to modernise its GB website to better serve the needs of today’s users, from streamlined hotel bookings to a more rewarding account experience. LION+MASON partnered with them to deliver a complete UX-led redesign, focused on improving usability, driving conversions, and laying the groundwork for long-term scalability.
Our flexible, five-phase process – from strategic planning to visual execution – ensured we remained responsive to both project goals and user needs throughout.
Insight Before Interface: Understanding the Problem Space
The project began with an in-depth discovery phase, aligning with key stakeholders to define objectives and understand pain points. Using a combination of analytics data, stakeholder insight, and qualitative user research, we identified the core experience challenges: dated UI, friction in the booking journey, and limited value for logged-in users.
We carried out:
- A UX audit of the existing platform
- Competitor and best-in-class benchmarking
Mapping of AS-IS user journeys and business processes - Interviews with real users to uncover unmet needs and behavioural patterns
These insights informed a strategic roadmap, balancing near-term wins with longer-term transformation opportunities.
Simplifying the Journey, Amplifying the Experience
Our UX team redefined the core user journeys – from hotel search and booking to account management and rewards – with a strong focus on reducing friction and increasing clarity.
We:
- Restructured the site architecture for easier navigation
- Streamlined multi-step booking flows
- Enhanced pathways for logged-in users and rewards members
- Identified opportunities for progressive disclosure to manage content complexity
Early concepts were rendered as detailed wireframes and extensively tested with users, allowing us to explore structure, flow, and interaction patterns quickly and collaboratively.
Designed with Users, Not Just for Them
Testing early and often was key to de-risking design decisions. We used clickable prototypes populated with real content to validate redesigned journeys with real users, capturing their feedback on usability, clarity, and confidence at key touchpoints.
Through testing, we were able to:
- Confirm improvements to booking journey efficiency
- Identify and address points of confusion in search and selection
- Validate design decisions with both new and returning users
Feedback loops informed iterative refinements ahead of visual design, ensuring the final experience was not only beautiful but also intuitive and effective.
Modern Warmth: Evolving the Visual Identity
We evolved Best Western’s visual identity to bring more warmth, clarity and consistency across the digital journey, while staying true to brand guidelines.
Our art direction focused on:
- A fresh, modern visual style that feels clean yet welcoming
- Elevated use of imagery to support both emotional engagement and practical decision-making
- A colour palette optimised for accessibility and readability
- Clear, typographic hierarchy to guide users effortlessly through content
The goal was to create a UI that felt premium, trusted, and easy to engage with, across every screen.
From Concept to Click: Designing for Impact and Scalability
Building on the new visual direction, we delivered high-fidelity UI designs for all key templates and interactions. We also created a modular digital design system to ensure scalability and maintainability as the site evolves.
Key outputs included:
- Fully responsive UI mockups for desktop, tablet and mobile
- Interactive components, states and transitions
- A flexible design system to support future features and development
- Annotated specs and design documentation to support developer handover
We continued to support the development team post-handover to ensure quality and consistency through build and launch.
The website redesign for Best Western Hotels GB has been a marked success. We worked hand-in-glove with the client team to create a modern, user-friendly site that has enabled the Best Western team to deliver a future-proofed best-in-class platform from which to evolve and grow.
Our methodical, insight-based approach, clear design plans and continuous support made it easy for the development team to build and launch the new site seamlessly.
Importantly, it has provided a basis from which we have developed a powerful partnership supporting Best Western Hotels GB as they move forward with their ambitions.
“From the start, we needed a partner who could bring our vision to life. LION+MASON’s structured five-step approach kept our guests at the centre of every decision, helping us create a platform that meets today’s needs and supports future growth. With them as our design partner, we’re confident in delivering ongoing improvements and increasing direct bookings.”
Chris Bowling
Head of Digital & Consumer Marketing
Best Western Hotels GB
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