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Case study ยท Inn website design

Blue Boar Inn: eight rooms, one clear way to book.

An eight-room inn in the forest above Lake Santeetlah, near Robbinsville, North Carolina. The old website was five pages and a booking form. We rebuilt it on WordPress so a guest can see every room, the dock, breakfast and the drive in before they book, and then book the room they chose.

Where it stands

Live at oldblueboar.com since 30 September 2026. Every capture of the new site on this page is of the live site.

Before and after

The rebuilt Blue Boar Inn homepage by Oogle: a photograph of the inn among the trees, the headline A small inn in the forest above Lake Santeetlah, and a Check Availability button.After
The original Blue Boar Inn homepage: a photo of the inn behind the headline A Premier Smoky Mountain Retreat, a single Book Now button, and menu links labelled Our Suites, Local Attractions, Our Reviews and Contact Us.Before
BeforeOriginal Blue Boar Inn website
AfterWebsite rebuild by Oogle

The project

A small inn, described properly.

The old site had a homepage, a booking page, a reviews page, a contact page and a privacy policy. The eight rooms were identical cards on the homepage, the attractions were a section of it, and every Book Now went to the same form. Its headline called the inn a premier Smoky Mountain retreat, which could have been anywhere. Blue Boar is somewhere specific: a forest inn above Lake Santeetlah with its own guest dock and breakfast made by its own chef. The new site says that first and builds everything else from it.

Client
Blue Boar Inn
Industry
Inn and bed and breakfast
Location
Robbinsville, North Carolina
Platform
WordPress
Status
Live since 30 September 2026

Visit oldblueboar.com

What changed.

Booking by room, not by guesswork

Each room that is sold on its own has a booking link that opens the booking page already set to that room, through Guestroom Genie, the inn's existing booking system. A guest who chose the Cheoah Suite is not handed a list of every room.

Eight rooms, compared

One table puts the beds, how many each room sleeps and the next step side by side for all eight. The rooms were eight matching cards before; now the differences that matter to a guest are easy to see.

A page for each part of the stay

The inn and its grounds, Lake Santeetlah and the private guest dock, breakfast and lunch, private group stays, and planning the trip each have a page. The old site had five pages in all.

The lake, the dock and breakfast, stated plainly

Breakfast from the inn's chef is included. The dock has kayaks, canoes and paddleboards. The inn sits in the forest above the lake, and the site says plainly that it is not on the shore.

A reason to make the drive

Things to do near Robbinsville, from the Cherohala Skyway to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, with a table of drive times from the inn.

A way out of the booking form

Below the booking form, the booking page gives the phone number, an email address and a separate route for booking the whole inn. Every phone number on the site is a tap-to-call link; the old site had none.

One name, everywhere

The inn went by several names online, and a search for Blue Boar Inn could return an inn of the same name in Utah. The site uses one name, Blue Boar Inn, and places it in Robbinsville, beside Lake Santeetlah.

Structured for search and AI answers

Structured data for the inn, each room, the dining and the questions guests ask, questions answered on the page where they come up, and a plain-text summary for AI systems that includes which Blue Boar Inn this is.

Tracking what guests do

Booking clicks are recorded with the room and the part of the page they came from, along with calls, emails and the booking page itself, so the inn can see where bookings start.

Fast, accessible, and only what is true

A custom WordPress theme with no page builder, modern image formats sized to where they appear, and an accessibility statement that names WCAG 2.2 AA as the standard. Facts the owner could not confirm were left out, and claims that no longer held, such as a guest kitchen, were removed.

These are design and technical changes, not measured results. The new site launched on 30 September 2026. There is no booking, traffic or ranking data yet, and none is claimed here.

The whole page

Top to bottom.

The old homepage beside the new one, both captured at the same desktop width. The old one was most of the website. The new one introduces the inn and sends a guest to the page that answers their question.

The full original Blue Boar Inn homepage: the photo header, an introduction, a grid of eight room photos, an amenities grid, a Heart of the Great Smoky Mountains banner, guest services, outdoor spaces and the footer.
BeforeOriginal homepage, full length
The full rebuilt Blue Boar Inn homepage: the forest hero, the inn at a glance, three of the rooms, the grounds, the private dock on Lake Santeetlah, breakfast, the forest and waterfalls nearby, whole-inn stays, a booking prompt and the footer.
AfterRebuilt homepage, full length

Mobile

Planned on a phone, booked on a phone.

The same first screen on a phone. The new site opens with Check Availability and a call link, and keeps a Book button on screen as the page scrolls.

The original Blue Boar Inn homepage on a phone: the photo header with the Smoky Mountain retreat headline and a Book Now button.
BeforeOriginal, on a phone
The rebuilt Blue Boar Inn homepage on a phone: the inn among the trees, the headline about the forest above Lake Santeetlah, and a booking button.
AfterRebuild, on a phone

The rebuild

Inside the new site.

The pages a guest reads before booking: the rooms, one room in full, the lake, breakfast, what there is to do, and the booking page.

The Every Suite, by Number table on the Blue Boar Inn rooms page: all eight rooms with their beds, how many each sleeps, and a link to book, view or book the whole inn for each.
All eight roomsBeds, how many each room sleeps and where to book it, in one table.
The Hideaway Suite page on the Blue Boar Inn site: a photograph of the room, its beds, capacity and private bathroom, what is included, and a Check Availability panel.
One room in fullBeds, bathroom, what is included and a booking panel for that room.
The Lake Santeetlah page on the Blue Boar Inn site: the heading Lake Santeetlah and our private dock over a photograph of the dock on the water.
The lake and the dockThe guest dock, the boats guests can take out, and the walk down through the woods to reach it.
The Breakfast and Dining page on the Blue Boar Inn site: the heading beside a photograph of the stone fireplace in the dining room.
Breakfast and diningBreakfast included with every stay, and lunch Wednesday to Sunday for anyone, including people who arrive by boat.
The drive times table on the Blue Boar Inn Things to Do page: distances and drive times from the inn to the Cherohala Skyway, Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and other places nearby.
Drive times from the innDistances and drive times from the inn to the places guests ask about.
The Blue Boar Inn booking page opened from one room: the heading Book the Cheoah Suite above the booking form, filtered to that room.
Booking one roomOpened from a room, the booking page is already set to that room, with the phone and email below the form.
The Blue Boar Inn rooms page on a phone: the heading Eight suites, each with its own bathroom, and the first photographs of the rooms.
The roomsPhotographs first, then the table of all eight.
The Hideaway Suite page on a phone: the room's photograph and name with its key facts below.
A roomThe photograph, then beds, sleeps and bathroom.
The Blue Boar Inn booking page on a phone, set to the Cheoah Suite, with the booking form below the heading.
BookingThe room a guest chose, already selected.

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