A new venture built around two very different stays
Ocean Retreats was a new venture bringing together Cliff House in Beesands, Devon and Shark Fin in Sennen, Cornwall. The two properties share a coastal setting, but their character, location and guest experience are quite different.
Cornerstone developed the Ocean Retreats name with the client, then created the brand and website around it. The site needed to make the new venture recognisable, give each property room to tell its own story and help prospective guests find the practical information they need before booking.
Bookings would continue through cottages.com. Rather than duplicating that system, the Ocean Retreats website was designed to support the earlier part of the decision: understanding the properties, comparing the locations and choosing the right stay.
What the project included
- A new name and visual identity for Ocean Retreats
- One website for two properties in Devon and Cornwall
- Detailed, consistent property pages
- Clear routes to the existing cottages.com booking listings
- Galleries, video, floorplans, facilities and property walkthroughs
- General and property-specific frequently asked questions
- Guest reviews and local area content
- Professional still photography for Shark Fin
- Aerial photography, video and floorplans for both properties
- Hosting and ongoing website support
A shared identity without making the properties feel the same
The Ocean Retreats brand gives Cliff House and Shark Fin a clear connection. The logo, coastal colours and wave forms create a consistent setting for the website, while the imagery and content allow each property to retain its own character.
Cliff House is presented as a historic house on the seafront at Beesands. Shark Fin is an architect-designed coastal house overlooking Sennen. Separate Devon and Cornwall routes continue through the accommodation and local-area content, so guests do not have to untangle which information belongs to which stay.
The properties belong together, but they are not interchangeable.
The shared brand makes Ocean Retreats recognisable while the individual pages preserve what is distinctive about each property.
Helping guests decide whether a property is right for them
A holiday-property page has to answer more than where the accommodation is and how many people it sleeps. Guests also want to understand the rooms, facilities, outlook, access, parking, dog arrangements and what the surrounding area offers.
Each Ocean Retreats property page follows a consistent structure, with an introduction to the setting, a practical walkthrough, facilities, gallery, video, floorplan, reviews, frequently asked questions and directions. Google Maps and what3words provide additional help when guests are preparing to travel.
The repeated structure makes the two properties easier to explore and compare without forcing their information into a short brochure description.
Guests need the useful details before they book.
Guests can understand the space and practical arrangements before they move on to availability and booking.
A clear route from browsing to booking
Ocean Retreats did not need another booking system. Availability and reservations were already handled through cottages.com, with a separate listing for each property.
The website therefore concentrates on the part of the journey it needs to own. Visitors can explore the properties in detail, then use the availability and booking calls to continue to the correct cottages.com listing. The handover is visible and property-specific, rather than sending everyone through a general booking route.
This keeps the new website focused and avoids adding a second system for the client to maintain.
The website does the explaining. The existing booking service handles the reservation.
Each property has a direct route to its own availability and booking page when the guest is ready.
Bringing the website and media together
The website combines imagery from different sources without making the finished presentation feel fragmented. The client supplied the Cliff House still photography. Cornerstone photographed Shark Fin and produced the aerial work, video and floorplans for both properties.
The property templates give each type of media a clear role. Wide images establish the setting, galleries show the accommodation in more detail, aerial work explains the coastal location, videos provide a stronger sense of the surroundings and floorplans help guests understand how the rooms fit together.
This is where the connection between Cornerstone Websites and Cornerstone Photography is useful. The media supports the information and decisions on the page rather than sitting in a separate gallery without context.
Each kind of media answers a different question.
Photography, aerial views, video and floorplans each help answer a different question about the properties.
Helping guests explore the place as well as the property
The decision does not end with the number of bedrooms. Guests also want to know what they can do, where they can eat and what they will find nearby.
Ocean Retreats has separate Local Gems content for Devon and Cornwall, covering beaches, activities, food and drink and practical local information. The news section provides another home for seasonal events and visitor ideas, while the review archive brings guest comments together in one place.
This gives the website useful depth beyond the accommodation pages and gives Ocean Retreats somewhere to add relevant local information as the venture develops.
Guests are choosing a place to spend time, not only a building.
Local recommendations help visitors picture the wider stay and plan what they might do when they arrive.
A website for the whole Ocean Retreats offer
The completed website gives the new Ocean Retreats venture one clear identity while allowing Cliff House and Shark Fin to remain distinct. Guests can explore both properties, find the practical information they need and continue to the correct cottages.com booking route.
Cornerstone provides the hosting and ongoing website support, giving the client a continuing point of contact as the accommodation offer and its content develop.
“We are so pleased with the new branding, website and imagery, we simply love it!”
Catherine, Ocean Retreats