Pinus Boutique
Website Design — Direct booking experience
UX Design
Visual Design
Brand Direction
Copywriting
Overview
Pinus Boutique is an independent hotel in Hoi An, Vietnam, a competitive tourism market where most bookings are made through Online Travel Agency (OTA) platforms like Booking.com and Agoda. While these platforms provide visibility, they limit brand expression and take a percentage of each booking.
The goal of this project was to design a website that could both communicate the hotel’s unique identity and serve as a primary channel for direct bookings. Ultimately reducing the reliance on third-party platforms and creating a more personal guest experience.
As the Product Designer, I owned the full process from discovery through high-fidelity design. Currently building the site in Framer.
Type
Freelance
Role
Product Designer (UX & Visual)
Date
2026
Tools
Figma, ChatGPT, Claude
Deliverables
High-fidelity designs
Build in Framer
Problem
Independent boutique hotels in Hoi An face a disadvantage online. Most rely on OTA platforms like Booking.com and Agoda, which charge commission on every booking and present properties in a standardized format. As a result, hotels with distinct character are reduced to interchangeable listings.
For guests, this creates a browsing experience that lacks emotional connection and clear differentiation. For hotel owners, it limits both brand expression and control over the booking relationship.
Pinus Boutique needed a web presence that could communicate its identity while guiding visitors toward a simple, low-friction way to get in touch and book.
Discovery
I started my process with a meeting with the client to understand the hotel’s story, the owner’s background, their existing guest profile, and what success for the website would look like.
Key insights:
Guests choose Pinus Boutique for its authenticity and personal feel, not for a standardized hotel experience
Most communication already happens through WhatsApp, both before and during the stay
The primary business goal was to increase direct bookings while retaining full margin
Rather than following a traditional booking flow, the opportunity was to design around existing behavior: direct messaging for bookings and guest inquiries.
Design Principles
Before opening Figma, I defined three principles to guide my decisions:
Intimate over impersonal
The experience should feel like a letter from the owner, not a platform listing. Copy and layout emphasize warmth and clarity.Less is more
A clean, editorial aesthetic with generous whitespace. Instead of adding more decoration, the design lets the content and photography stand out.One clear next step
Each screen has a single primary CTA, guiding users forward without competing actions or unnecessary friction.
User Flow & Structure
The website is built around four screens that mirror the natural decision journey of a traveller considering a boutique hotel: arrive and feel the brand, understand the story, explore the rooms, then make contact.
Each screen is anchored by a single primary CTA that moves the user forward. For high-intent visitors, the landing screen also provides an immediate “Book your stay” action, allowing users to skip the flow and open WhatsApp directly.
All conversion paths lead to WhatsApp, reinforcing a more personal, conversation-based booking experience while avoiding third-party commissions.
Design Process
I began with mid-fidelity wireframes to establish layout and information hierarchy. At this stage, the focus was structure: what each screen needed to communicate, in what order, and how to guide attention through the page.
Once the structure was set, I moved into high-fidelity design. I used generous whitespace and photography-led layouts to create a calm, grounded feel. I paired serif and sans-serif typography for warmth and readability, and used a neutral, earthy palette. I used AI tools to explore initial copy, then refined the content to align with a tone that felt warm and personal.
The result is a conversion-oriented experience that balances emotional storytelling with a clear path to action.
Outcome
The final design is a conversion-oriented experience that reflects the hotel’s identity while supporting its primary goal: increase direct bookings. The client noted that the site felt more curated and easier to navigate than their listing on Booking.com, and had a clear sense of personality and quality.
By centering the experience around direct communication via WhatsApp, the site establishes a more personal booking flow while allowing the business to retain full margin.
The Pinus Boutique website is a simple but intentional experience that turns interest into conversation, and conversation into booking.
Reflection
The project was constrained by the lack of a traditional booking system. Instead of working around it, I designed the experience around direct communication through WhatsApp, resulting in a simpler, more personal booking flow.
Given more time, I would validate the WhatsApp CTA with users to ensure it feels natural at each step of the journey.
Designed by Jackie Pham
phamjle@gmail.com
Virginia, USA