Case study:
Hospitality
Hotel City Zurich
Turning Hospitality Into a High‑End Brand at Hotel City Zürich
At a Glance
The newly renovated Hotel City Zurich is a 3-star superior hotel in the heart of Zurich, ideal for city travelers and business guests seeking comfort, convenience, and direct access to the city’s top sights and shopping experiences.
Firm:
Hotel City Zurich
Headquarter:
Zurich, Switzerland
Industry:
Hospitality
Website:
hotelcity.chServices provided:
- Corporate design (Hotel & Restaurant)
- Facade signage, exterior logos
- Print design
- Web design, UI & UX
- WordPress Gutenberg
- On-Site SEO
- Photography & Video
A 3-Star Superior Hotel, Reimagined
The Hotel City Zurich – a 3-star superior hotel faced the challenge of repositioning itself to reflect the refinement and sophistication of a 5-star experience. The existing brand and website no longer matched the hotel’s quality or ambitions, limiting its appeal to design-conscious city travelers and business guests.
Our goal was to help Hotel City Zurich stand out in a competitive hospitality landscape – by sharpening its identity, reimagining its visual presence, and crafting a digital experience that feels as considered and polished as the guest experience itself. The result: a cohesive rebrand, a custom website, and a noticeable boost in direct bookings.
Bookings Increased By 21%
A Brand That Didn’t Match the Guest Experience
Outdated Branding, Underselling the Experience
Hotel City Zurich’s primary hurdle was an outdated brand image that no longer resonated with the contemporary traveler. This pervasive issue extended to their digital storefront – the website was visually dated and lacked the intuitive user experience necessary for today’s competitive hospitality market.
Furthermore, a specific challenge arose in physically manifesting the new brand: integrating the redesigned logo prominently and elegantly onto the hotel’s facade, ensuring it captured attention and conveyed the desired luxurious feel. The existing identity simply didn’t communicate the superior experience Hotel City offered.
Redesigning the Stay – from Identity to Interface
A New Identity, From the Ground Up
We developed a new visual identity for Hotel City Zurich anchored in a custom illustrated dove – symbolizing calm, clarity, and urban sophistication. Paired with an elegant, modern typeface, the refreshed branding brings a sense of confidence and warmth across all touch-points. Custom metal signage on the building’s facade now visibly reflects the hotel’s elevated standard and renewed direction.
Where Boutique Hospitality Meets Seamless UX
The redesigned website delivers a streamlined booking experience with a clean, modular layout optimized for mobile and desktop. Built with WordPress Gutenberg, it’s easy for the hotel team to manage and update. We also implemented semantic HTML, SEO best practices, and accessibility features – ensuring the site is discoverable, fast-loading, and usable for all guests.
Visual Storytelling for a Fully Renovated Hotel
After a complete interior renovation, we captured Hotel City Zurich’s new ambiance through high-quality photography and short video clips. From guest rooms to public spaces, our content reflects the boutique charm and comfort that define the guest experience – enhancing the website, social media, and third-party platforms alike.
Working with Olex was professional and smooth from the very beginning. Our hotel’s online presence was designed to be modern, appealing, and user-friendly. We especially value their creative advice and quick implementation of our ideas – a partnership we are happy to recommend.
Hotel City Zürich
Our Process
Our engagement followed a meticulous, full-service process, ensuring every aspect of the brand and digital presence was aligned with the goal of enhancing the hotel’s perception.
1. Discovery & Research
We analyzed the existing brand, target audience, and competition to define core brand values and strategic objectives for the transformation.
2. Brand Identity Development
We designed the new logo—featuring a custom illustrated dove and elegant typeface—and created comprehensive Corporate Design guidelines to ensure consistency across all materials.
3. Website Design & Development (UI/UX)
Focused on exceptional user experience, we performed UI/UX Design research to create intuitive navigation and a visually appealing interface. The site was developed on WordPress Gutenberg for flexible content management.
4. Physical Branding & Signage Execution
We handled of the entire signage execution process for the custom-crafted metal façade logo, including technical drawings, prototyping, and final montage (installation) to ensure premium quality.
5. Content Creation
Our team captured the professional photography for guest rooms and common areas, effectively documenting the hotel’s essence. We also shot short videos to provide dynamic visual tours.
6. SEO Implementation
SEO best practices were integrated from the start into the website’s structure and content to ensure maximum visibility and organic traffic for relevant search terms.
7. Support & Maintenance
We monitor performance and provide support, ensuring new assets consistently deliver on objectives and adapt to market needs.
FAQ
The primary challenge was to visually upgrade a 3-star superior hotel to the perceived standard of a 5-star luxury establishment through comprehensive rebranding and digital transformation.
The new website was designed to be highly user-friendly and visually stunning, providing a seamless booking experience. By showcasing high-quality photography and videos, it effectively communicated the hotel’s elevated ambiance, directly contributing to increased bookings.
We provided a full suite of services including new logo design (custom dove illustration and typeface), Corporate Design, Website Design & Development, UI/UX Design, WordPress Gutenberg implementation, SEO, professional photography, and videography.
Hotel City Zurich selected our studio because we operate as a flexible, and result-driven one-stop creative agency. Instead of managing multiple vendors for branding, content creation, web development, and physical signage, the hotel benefited from our ability to handle the entire project end-to-end. This streamlined approach guaranteed brand consistency across all touch points, minimized logistical hurdles, and delivered the comprehensive luxury makeover efficiently and quickly.
The transformation was integrated and comprehensive, ensuring the change moved beyond a simple logo update. By consistently applying the new identity—which included the new logo, premium metal signage on the facade, and a sophisticated, content-rich website showcasing professional photography and videos—we fundamentally changed the hotel’s perception, successfully aligning its visual identity with a 5-star standard of sophistication and luxury.
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