b_smart hotel group
Experience b_smart live
How do you transform the hotel experience into the digital world without losing its personality? That is exactly the challenge we got to solve together with b_smart: from developing a flexible digital brand world to technically orchestrating a system that today connects more than 20 hotels and motels. All for a brand that lives digitalisation: at b_smart, guests check in themselves, so the website is often the first and most important host.
Digit-One impressed with its precision, customer focus, and excellent project management.
Digit-One combines precision, quick comprehension, and a customer focus that is essential in the hotel industry. Despite the high complexity of our project, we always felt well looked after and appreciated the professional project management. Agile actions and short-term adjustments in the interests of the project were immediately reflected within the team and documented accordingly. Even under time pressure, communication was goal-oriented and appreciative. We are glad to have chosen Digit-One as the right partner for our demanding project and would do the same again.
Heinrich Toldo
Board of Directors @ b_smart
Finding the right setup together: fast, focused, on-brand
In an intensive design sprint and accompanying concept workshops, we laid the foundation together with the team: requirements, target groups, brand values and digital goals were analysed, prioritised and translated into a modular concept. More than 150 user tests validated the decisions, from the booking entry point to the navigation. The result: a clear interplay of strategy, design and technology, built for the hotel group and scalable for every future instance.
A new digital CI/CD: Recognizable. Reusable. Forward-thinking.
The b_smart houses have a strong identity, and it stays exactly as it is. For the websites, we reinterpreted this identity digitally: a brand facelift that translates colours, typography and components into a modern, flexible design system. Everything interlocks and can be adapted for every single house. The look stays recognisable across the whole group, while each house keeps its individual character.
Website builder? More of a storytelling instrument
On the basis of a modular design system, we created a website architecture that is more than just functional. It tells stories. Every page is an experience. With Storyblok CMS, content is managed editorially, without limits, without a rigid CMS corset. City motel, mountain hotel or a house by the lake: the platform adapts. Fast page loads, fluid interactions, mobile first and accessible down to the detail, with adjustable font size and a contrast mode right in the header of every website.
Website builder? More like a storytelling tool.
Based on a modular design system, we have created a website architecture that is more than just functional. It tells stories. Every page is an experience. With Storyblok CMS, content can be edited without limits and without the constraints of a rigid CMS. Whether it's a motel in the city or a hotel in the mountains or on Lake Constance, the platform adapts. Fast page loading, smooth interactions, accessible, scalable, and mobile first.
A front-end theme.
Multiple appearances.
What looks like a tribute to diversity is technically a real feat: we have developed a central front-end theme that dynamically adapts to the respective hotel brand. Color schemes, imagery, content modules—everything can be controlled centrally but staged locally. Maintenance remains lean, the appearance remains strong. This is how we create different user experiences for b_smart Hotels & Motels, flexy.motels, and all Hotels by b_smart.
Global content, available locally
Important information, offers, policies, or jobs are managed centrally and displayed where they are needed. This creates consistent experiences for guests and efficient workflows for editors. A win-win situation, without any copy-paste chaos.
Launch new websites in hours instead of days
The architecture enables the uncomplicated launch of new hotel websites. Both Storyblok CMS and the cloud-hosted Next.js frontend scale dynamically. Costs and internal effort for new websites are therefore low. Centralized access enables efficient management of all websites and globally shared content. New features and optimizations go live simultaneously for all websites.
Book where others scroll
The integrated booking journey is deeply anchored in the experience. It is not an add-on, it is an organic part of the storytelling. Guests book right where they expect to: front and centre in the homepage hero, on the room detail pages, or from anywhere via the navigation. Vouchers, restaurant and offers are just one click away too. For a brand where guests check in themselves, the digital journey has to work from the first click to the room door. That is exactly what it is built for.
Working together to find the right setup. Fast, focused, brand-appropriate.
In an intensive design sprint and accompanying concept workshops, we worked with the team to lay the foundation for the project. Requirements, target groups, brand values, and digital goals were analyzed in a structured manner, prioritized, and translated into a modular concept. The result: a tailor-made package of strategy, design, and technology—precisely tailored to the needs of the hotel groups and scalable for all future instances.
AI for content that senses what guests are looking for
With AI support, content is prepared intelligently. That saves the editorial team time and raises quality: from automated image captions to SEO-optimised copy and content that follows what guests are actually looking for. The content gets not just prettier, but smarter.
One front-end theme, many brand identities
What looks like an homage to variety is technically quite a feat: we built a central front-end theme that adapts dynamically to each hotel brand. Colour worlds, typography, imagery, content modules: all centrally managed, yet locally staged. The brand identity is selected per website with a single setting, keeping maintenance lean and the presence strong. This creates distinct user experiences for b_smart Hotels & Motels, flexy.motels and all Hotels by b_smart.
One platform, many domains
Behind the scenes, a multisite architecture resolves every request intelligently: custom domains and subfolders are centrally mapped to the right website, so every house gets its own presence without its own infrastructure. The cloud-hosted Next.js front end scales dynamically, whether one house is in high season or twenty are at once. For the editorial team, it all feels like one system. For guests, like their hotel's own website.
The result
A platform that connects more than 20 hotels and motels while letting every house keep its own character. New websites go live in hours instead of days, features and optimisations reach all houses at once, and one central team maintains content without copy-paste chaos. The platform has kept growing ever since, house by house and feature by feature. And it proves a point: digital scaling works best when the brand gets sharper, not diluted.
