We built their group site which had individual, templated, mini-sites for all of their hotel properities from London to Hong Kong to Hawaii. Comprehensive information on a variety of categories. This was done in mid-1996 and, at that time, I was really pushing for online reservations and using stitched QuickTime-VR videos to showcase the rooms and other facilities. Wasn’t being done much at the time and would’ve, I believe, been enormously helpful for Mandarin Oriental’s clientelle as well as giving the Group a firm foothold in the dynamic marketplace of the Web.

Unfortunately they didn’t (and still don’t) see themselves as leaders in this medium. That’s a shame, and one of the main reasons we decided to give up their business. However, I did make the most of the site as best I could (given the limited functionality). I designed some fun, colorful icons [<-- See Left] to contrast the regal elegance of the photographs which describe the Hotels’ mood -- in order to make it more inviting in this very one-to-one environment.

The site won “Best of Show” at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Worldwide Conference in 1996. All manners of presentations, collaterals and advertising materials were voted on.