UP wins 7 WMA Web Awards in 2026

Seven websites, seven WMA WebAwards. We’ve got plenty to celebrate! Arcus took Best Hotel and Lodging Website at the 2026 Web Marketing Association WebAwards, with six more of our projects earning Outstanding Website awards.

From rooftop cocktails to a letter to “Bertie”, each project called for its own approach. Here’s a look at the design and UX details behind the seven winners.

Our hotel website design approach combines custom design with responsive layouts for desktop, tablet and mobile. We plan and test how guests move through each site, and connect the design to booking engines, payment systems and CRM tools. Our website development also prioritises fast loading through careful coding, image optimisation and caching.

Best Hotel and Lodging Website

Arcus

London’s weather gives us plenty to talk about. For Arcus, Bloomsbury’s rooftop bar, it gave us something to design around, too. Arched photography, cloud-inspired patterns and playful weather references introduce the venue that took Best Hotel and Lodging Website.

Day, night and cocktail menus are easy to find, while a prominent “Book a Table” button leads visitors towards a reservation. Responsive typography and navigation adapt the experience for smaller screens. FAQs cover the practical questions, and a maps link shows guests where to find the rooftop.

Outstanding Website Awards

Bertrand’s Townhouse

For Bertrand’s Townhouse, we brought Bloomsbury’s literary character into the website’s design and language. Navigation presented as “Chapters”, alongside paper and velvet textures, makes exploring the hotel feel like stepping into its story.

Even booking a room gets the literary treatment: guests fill in a letter to “Bertie”, with dates, guest numbers and rooms woven into its sentences. Familiar plus-and-minus controls and an availability button keep the playful form easy to use.

Mayfield Hotels

Mayfield Hotels brings a collection of independent properties together under one brand. Its website starts with the choices guests need to make: where to stay, when to travel and who is coming. Location, dates, guests and special rates sit together in a prominent search bar.

On smaller screens, search has its own dedicated layout, with vertically arranged fields and a “Search Hotels” entry point. Popular destinations and featured properties also help visitors who are still deciding where to go. Meanwhile, content for essential workers and a separate partnership route give travellers and hotel owners information relevant to their different needs.

My Ōtel

For My Ōtel, full-screen video, a restrained colour palette and spacious layouts introduce the group’s approach to boutique hospitality. Contrasting serif and italic typography gives the pages an elegant, editorial feel, allowing the imagery and individual destinations to take centre stage.

Destination navigation and multilingual options help international guests explore in their preferred language. Guests can choose their destination, dates and party size together in the booking panel. Alongside the imagery, links to dining, events and offers help guests shape the rest of their stay.

Haddington House

Haddington House’s coastal setting comes through in its harbour footage, soft peach tones and hand-drawn illustrations. These details establish a sense of place, while the navigation follows the different reasons people visit the House: staying, dining, attending events or exploring offers.

Individual room pages help overnight guests compare accommodation, while restaurant sections provide their own table-booking calls to action. Neighbourhood stories, including sea swimming and cycling, extend that experience beyond the property and into life around Dún Laoghaire.

Fulham Pier Hotel

Our website for Fulham Pier Hotel puts its Thames-side setting at the centre of the experience. Large room photographs showcase the river views, while a clear visual hierarchy guides visitors through the accommodation, direct-booking benefits and the wider pier’s dining and entertainment.

Ready to choose a room? The “Pick your room” link takes visitors to the accommodation options, with dates and guest details grouped together in the booking panel. Gallery, directions and contact links also make the practical details easy to reach as visitors plan their stay.

Whittlebury Park

Whittlebury Park brings stays, spa, golf, dining and events together within one website. With so many reasons to visit, the UX challenge is helping guests narrow their choices.

We organised the experiences around those different interests, supported by a package finder with filters for collection, price and what is included. Visitors can move from a broad idea for a break to a more focused selection of packages. Links from the homepage lead directly into relevant collections, while estate photography introduces the setting.

A Huge Thank You to Our Team and Clients

A huge thank you to the designers, developers, project managers and marketing team who brought these seven websites to life. There’s a lot of work behind every launch, and it’s a pleasure to see it recognised.

And to our clients and partners: thank you for trusting us with your brands and sharing your ambitions. We’re proud to celebrate these wins with you.

About the Web Marketing Association WebAwards

The Web Marketing Association launched the WebAwards in 1997. Independent judges assess entries across seven criteria: design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting and ease of use.

The highest-scoring entry in each industry category receives the Best Website award. Other entries scoring at least 60 out of 70 receive Outstanding Website recognition.

Learn about the judging process or explore the full list of winners.