98 Acres
98 AcresResort & Spa
Reimagining the digital front door of a tea-estate retreat in the Sri Lankan hill country — so booking a chalet in the clouds feels as calm and considered as the place itself.
A boutique escape deserves a booking experience to match.
98 Acres is a boutique eco-resort built into a working 98-acre colonial tea estate in Ella, with handcrafted thatched chalets of reclaimed railway sleepers, granite and illuk straw, looking out over Little Adam's Peak and the misty Ella Gap. It's a place where, as the resort puts it, time slows down.
The challenge was to redesign its website end to end — not just a prettier homepage, but the whole journey from first dreamy glance to a confirmed reservation, plus dining, stories, contact and account flows. My goal: make the screen feel like the hillside, and make booking effortless.
Three questions shaped the work
feel as immersive
as the hillside?
A layout where the landscape leads, without drowning the booking task.
A journey where availability and price are always within reach.
Reusable components that stay warm, never corporate.
Charming chalets, misty tea hills, time that slows down — online, too.
Before pushing pixels, I anchored the design in what makes 98 Acres itself: a place defined by its land, its craft, and a deliberately unhurried pace. Every decision — palette, photography, spacing, copy — had to earn its place against that feeling.
Four principles kept the design honest.
Immersive
Full-bleed photography of the estate leads; the UI steps back so the place speaks.
Effortless
Check-in, check-out and guests sit in one always-visible booking bar across the journey.
Grounded
A tea-leaf green and warm cream palette, with a serif that nods to the estate's heritage.
Complete
The whole system — 15 screen types, navigation states and footers — not a single hero shot.
A warm, natural kit — built once, reused everywhere.
Greens drawn from the tea bushes, gold from Uva tea and lamplight, cream for calm reading. Restrained on purpose.
The one element that follows guests from home to reservation — booking is never more than a glance away.
Fifteen screens, one continuous feeling.
Home
A full-bleed hero of chalets in the canopy, with the resort's own line — a land lost in time.
The availability bar sits right on the hero, so the booking task starts immediately.
Featured suites, an editorial intro, and an amenities carousel build desire as you scroll.
Room Details
The space, amenities, prices and safety features are scannable groups — no hunting.
Real review content with star ratings earns trust at the moment of decision.
The booking bar is still here, so reserving is a single step from reading.
Contact
A short message form paired with real, glanceable contact details and a map.
Twilight hero imagery keeps the mood even on a utility page.
Social and address sit together so guests choose the channel they prefer.
From first glance to confirmed booking — one unbroken path.
The spine the whole system is built around.
Home
Fall for the place; start a date search.
→Rooms
Filter by type, price and rating.
→Room Details
Weigh the space, amenities and reviews.
→Reservation
Confirm dates, guests and details.
→Confirmation
A clear, reassuring booking summary.
Around that spine sit the supporting pages — Dining, Blog & Blog Details, Contact, and a complete account set of Sign In, Sign Up, Forgot Password and a friendly 404. The system also includes 24 navigation states and a family of footer variants, so the design holds together no matter where a guest lands.
What I'd take further
Real content over placeholder
The comps use stand-in copy in places. With brand voice and real chalet descriptions, the editorial sections would land harder.
Mobile & live availability
Next I'd design the responsive breakpoints in full and connect the availability bar to a real booking engine and calendar.
Validate with guests
A quick usability pass on the booking flow — task success and time-to-book — would confirm the journey holds up under real intent.
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