Riad Dar Sido
Rebranding and digital transformation for a sixteen-room boutique hotel in the heart of Marrakech.
Client
Mouhssine Terrab
Role
Designer & Developer
Timeline
Ongoing
Year
2025
Tools & Technologies
The Opportunity
Riad Dar Sido possesses the rare poise of a Marrakech retreat where traditional craft and quiet modernism coexist without apology. When Mouhssine Terrab approached me, the hotel’s digital presence—WordPress, amateur-built, booking functions inoperative—had surrendered nearly all reservations to the commissions of Booking.com and Expedia.
The brief was exacting: reclaim direct bookings, eliminate needless subscriptions, and, along the way, refine a logo that had lingered in provisional form. What began as a website evolved into a complete rebranding and a bespoke operational system—discreet, durable, unmistakably its own.
The Challenge
Build a multilingual property-management system from scratch, capable of synchronizing availability and reservations with major OTAs, yet light enough to run at negligible cost. Do so on a modest budget, without resorting to another paid channel manager. And do it for the first time as both designer and full-stack developer.
The Approach
A single governing document—the Product Requirements—served as compass. From it I derived granular tasks, each fed methodically to AI assistants to preserve clarity and economy. The architecture followed JAMstack principles: Astro for the public face, Payload CMS extended into a lean PMS, Turso for distributed data. Client consultations were frequent, unhurried, and decisive; every feature earned its place only if it eased a real operational friction.
The Solution
Two systems, inseparable in practice. The guest-facing site is serene and responsive—instant availability, secure payment, a booking flow that feels almost weightless. The backend administration is equally spare: multilingual content, automated OTA synchronization, reservation lifecycle emails, all governed from one calm dashboard. The refreshed mark and visual identity thread through both: ochres and terracottas tempered by negative space, typography that nods to Arabic calligraphy yet reads cleanly in Latin script. Tradition is honored, never theatricalized.
The Impact & Results
Upon launch, monthly digital costs are projected to fall by roughly ninety percent. More meaningfully, each direct booking will remain entirely the hotel’s own. The platform is built to grow—new features, new languages, new capabilities—without the drag of third-party dependencies.
For a small, independent property in a fiercely competitive city, the effect is quietly transformative: operational breathing room, restored margins, and a digital presence that finally matches the composure of the house itself.
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