Our Work · Tourism and Hospitality
A first meaningful interaction, for a lodge with no second chance.
An independent lodge does not get introduced by a brand people already trust. The website is the first real contact, and often the only one before someone books elsewhere. This one was built to answer a traveller's questions quickly and to sound like the place rather than like a hotel chain.
- Website Design
- UX and UI
Project overview
- Client
- Chobe Mopani Forest Lodge
- Sector
- Tourism and Hospitality
- Service
8pages published
The full story is belowBackground
An independent lodge in a gateway town.
Chobe Mopani Forest Lodge is a safari accommodation experience in the Kasane area of northern Botswana, close to Chobe National Park.
It is independent. There is no chain reputation doing the persuading in advance, no loyalty programme and no parent brand. Whatever confidence a traveller arrives with has to be built by the website itself.
Chobe Mopani Forest Lodge
A first meaningful interaction, before a first stay.
Project overview
Project overview
- Client
- Chobe Mopani Forest Lodge
- Industry
- Location
- Kasane, Botswana
- Window
- Site inventory counted on 21 August 2026
- Service
- Website
- chobemopaniforestlodge.com
Delivered
What we delivered, counted.
Pages, primary navigation destinations and distinct ways to stay, counted from the live pages on 21 August 2026.
The problem
Polish can work against an independent lodge.
The obvious move for a small property is to look as corporate as possible, on the theory that corporate reads as safe. It usually backfires. A traveller choosing an independent bush lodge is not looking for a hotel chain, and a site that feels disconnected from the character of the place invites the question of what else is being oversold.
The harder target is a site that feels authentic to the lodge and still presents it professionally. Warm, but not amateur. Relaxed, but organised enough that a traveller can answer their own questions in under a minute.
The waterhole at duskThe sun sets behind the treeline over the waterhole the lodge and every room face.
The pool deckMorning light on the deck: the pool, the grassland beyond it, and the rooms in the trees behind.
A room, twin-madeMosquito nets over twin beds, the same waterhole-facing style repeated through every room.
Our approach
We answered the questions in the order guests ask them.
We structured the site around guest questions, not company structure
Where is it, what accommodation is available, what facilities are there, how do I book, how do I make contact. The navigation is those questions rather than an org chart.
We separated camping from the rooms
Camping is a different kind of stay, not a cheaper room. Giving the campsite its own presence lets each be understood on its own terms instead of one confusing the other.
We broke the practical information into sections
International travellers researching several lodges at once scan rather than read. General information is chunked so it can be skimmed and returned to.
We treated contact as a feature
For an independent property, direct communication is part of the product. Contact details are prominent rather than buried, which is the opposite of what booking-funnel design usually does.
Search
Built so individual pages can be found on their own.
Travellers do not always arrive at a homepage. They search for rooms, for a campsite near Chobe, for contact details, or for a specific piece of practical information, and land wherever the search engine sends them.
The site was structured so its individual areas can be surfaced and understood in isolation, rather than assuming a visitor has read the homepage first.
Deliverables
What we shipped.
- UX and UI designSite structure, page templates, the accommodation and campsite layouts and the booking routes.
- WordPress design and buildThe delivered site: rooms, campsite, activities, gallery, general information, contact and booking.
- Responsive designDesktop, tablet and mobile, for travellers researching accommodation while moving between destinations.
- Content presentationPractical lodge information broken into scannable sections rather than a single block of copy.
The site, delivered
Our Rooms
Activities
Live rates
The rooms, at a glance
The site, deliveredWhat changed
The position at handover.
- An independent lodge has a digital presence that reads as authentic rather than borrowed from a hotel chain.
- Lodge rooms and camping are understood as two different stays, not one product at two prices.
- Practical information can be scanned by someone comparing several lodges at once.
- Contact is treated as part of the experience rather than hidden behind a booking funnel.
- Individual pages stand on their own for visitors who arrive from search rather than the homepage.
For an independent property, the website is the reputation.
In the client’s words
Testimonial
“Working with Brandesis has helped Chobe Mopani Forest Lodge become more visible at the exact moment travellers are researching Botswana and planning their stay in Kasane.”