Web Journal #13 - Hotel

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts

While in college (the first time-back in the 80's) I worked for Sheraton-Dallas. It was a very nice hotel, at least the parts that guests saw, so I thought it would be nice to see what their website looked like as I'm unlikely to ever stay at one of my own volition ($$$$).

A big interactive flash movie with CSS positioned over the top of it--what more can I say. Very few tables. The layout is sweet. The master navigation stays at the top no matter where the site takes you. Reservations, Special Offers, Vacation Ideas, and Preferred Guest options fulfill nearly every need a future guest may have. Even the color is inviting.

It's easy to get around and even easier to reserve a room.

Now I only wish I could afford to make that reservation...

Web Journal #12 - Restaruant

Chili's Grill & Bar

Yeah, I know... why not choose something a little more off the beaten path? Well do you know how few truly good restaurants have their own website?

Chili's is your standard corporate table-based website. Don't get me wrong, there's lots of CSS in there too, but the layout is definitely TABLES and lots of them!

The look and feel is fun, but simple. The navigation is across the top and each page keeps the same energy level. Finding a store is easy, just the basics, even a menu of what's offered at your nearest Chili's.

Flash is used for animated ads and such (for cross-selling).

Nothing really ground-breaking here, just simple and effective. Also nothing to really dislike.

Web Journal #11: Travel Booking

Hotwire.com

css, simple layout, easy to navigate, easy to find deals on major types of travel and lodging; air, hotels, cars, cruises. a tabbed main nav remains consistent throughout the site, but isn't the only route to the main pages. the home page has an easy-t0-use application for starting your search.

like that the site "remembers" your initial trip information and self-populates the data on subsequent pages. lots of good information... looks like they thought of everything!

dislike that the tabbed menu requires you to select the actual text to activate the link... it should activate when you click anywhere on the tab.

Web Journal #10: Art Museum

Riverside Art Museum


Located in Riverside California, the Riverside Art Museum hosts all the usual suspects... and the website does likewise. A simple layout with main navigation across the top, the CSS is as basic as it gets. Subtle sub-nav, lots of pictures, and just enough text surrounded by lots of whitespace.

The only thing I don't like about this site is that the Blog page takes us out of the normal flow of things.

If only my K9 site could be this nice....