New Eden Project Accommodation Listings

• We are delighted that our Eden Project Accommodation website has seen a surge in popularity this month. We have added a collection of new listings on the directory in the last couple of weeks. These listings appear in both the B&B and self catering sections with several businesses taking advantage of the new £99 lifetime listing offer.

(Porthtowan Beach)

• The first addition to the Eden Accommodation site can be found in the self catering section of the website. Beachside Stone’s Throw is a fantastic holiday apartment overlooking Porthtowan beach. Sleeping up to 5, the apartment enjoys a private balcony, parking and a truly stunning location on Cornwall’s north coast. Beachside Stone’s Throw is within easy travelling distance of the Eden Project being close to the A30. In addition to Eden, staying at this apartment allows guests to explore much of southwest Cornwall including Penwith, Penzance, St Ives, Newquay, Helston and The Lizard.

• The first of the new B&B accommodation providers to appear on the directory was Arches Guesthouse in St Austell. The Arches offers a high standard of en suite accommodation to guests including the indulgence and comfort of a four poster bed in the Green Room. Being located on the new cycleway to Eden, Arches B&B is very conveniently located for the Eden Project and is popular with walkers and cyclists visiting the attraction.

(Green Room at Arches B&B)

• Also to be found in the Guesthouses and B&Bs listings is Rosemoor B&B. Rosemoor offers guests comfort, freedom and privacy. The guest accommodation is in a separate annexe to the main house with a guest entrance adjacent to the car parking area. Rosemoor B&B is close to bus routes to the Eden Project and is ideally located for St Austell’s amenities and The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

• For further information on advertising, why not visit the Eden Project Accommodation website?

• Other advertising websites offered by Cnx include Cornish Connexions and the Cotswold Way Accommodation Directory.

New Listings on Cotswold Way

• The Cotswold Way Accommodation Directory has seen two new listings added so far this month, adding to the variety of available accommodation on the site. The directory, which is one of our in-house projects, is continuing to perform very strongly in the search engines and the new businesses choosing to advertise on the site are a positive sign of the growing popularity and profile of the site.
• California Farm is located between Winchcombe and Leckhampton. As this is a particularly stunning section of the route, walkers may well be attracted to the idea of breaking their journey here to take time to enjoy it. In addition to delicious breakfasts, California Farm’s owners offer evening meals to their guests by prior arrangement. The farm owners also operate a small riding stable. Guests who might be interested in riding should enquire at the time they make their booking. Accommodation offered includes a choice of double and twin en-suite rooms.
• As well as being well suited for walkers, California Farm is ideally placed for accommodation for race meetings at nearby Cheltenham racecourse. From California Farm a short car drive provides access to the county city of Gloucester and the Roman town of Cirencester.
• At the “top” end of the Cotswold Way, is The Old Manor at Paxford. The Cotswold village of Paxford is close to Chipping Campden and the owners of this lovely B&B will collect guests by car from a convenient local location if required. The Old Manor typifies local Cotswold manor houses with butter yellow sandstone and mullioned windows. Guests can explore the local area on foot or by car (a taxi service is available for guests for tours and visits) including Stratford-upon-Avon and Bourton-on-the-Water.
• Like many friendly B&Bs along the Cotswold Way National Trail, The Old Manor offers freshly prepared home-cooked evening meals by arrangement for the convenience of guests. Accommodation is double en-suite with a bed-settee for children to share with parents.
• Visit the Cotswold Way accommodation Directory at: www.cotswold-way-accommodation-directory.co.uk

Eden Project Accommodation

• This is an in-house directory of accommodation designed to cater for visitors looking for easy access to the Eden Project. In addition to offering a comprehensive accommodation database, this website provides a great deal of general information on the Eden Project itself and an extensive photo gallery of this popular and world famous attraction.
• This website has recently been given a “makeover” by the design team here at Connexions Web Solutions. The new look website is fresh and up to date with crisp, pastel shades and integrated imagery of the Eden Project itself. Although this site is not part of the official Eden Project’s web presence, the Connexions Eden Project Accommodation website maintains a standard of presentation and content in keeping with the status of Cornwall’s most famous attraction.
• The layout of the website has been kept simple by the designers in order to maintain focus on the two primary areas the website is concerned with; Accommodation and information about the Eden Project. Accessing the accommodation sectionis easily achieved through one of several navigation links.|The accommodation index page provides visitors with the option to narrow their search to the type of accommodation they are looking for, whether that is a hotel or guesthouse, self catering accommodation, B&B or camping. Again, selecting an option can be achieved through one of several easy to use navigation links. If preferred, the entire list of accommodationcan be viewed to evaluate all options.
• The directory layout is clear and easy to use. The options run in a list down the page, clearly demarked by shading. Each entry has a picture and brief description. Clicking anywhere on the text takes the visitor to a page dedicated to that accommodation provider. Again, the layout of this section is standardised for ease of use and comparison.
• Information on each provider can be found in the same location on every individual page. Examples of the information provided include price range, full contact details and a link to the accommodation provider’s own website. Each individual page on the Eden Project Accommodation Directorycontains an online enquiry form making it easy for potential guests to get in touch with their holiday accommodation requirements.
• Imagery is an important element of any website but is particularly so for holiday accommodation. Guests prefer to be given a clear idea of what’s on offer, both in terms of surrounding location and the internal facilities. The website provides three photographs of each entry on the individual page in addition to the picture in the main listing section. This gives guests a good starting point from which to make their choice. The ability to link to the individual accommodation provider’s website and to effortlessly request a brochure mean that additional information is easy to obtain.
• A significant proportion of the website is dedicated to information about the Eden Project itself. There are sections on how the Biomes were constructed, the project’s plans for the future and information on the project’s aims and objectives. This section of the website is rich in Eden imagery and contains an extensive photo gallery to allow visitors to get a taste of what the project has to offer. Overall, this website succeeds in providing a high quality holiday accommodation search service with specific links to a main holiday attraction.
• Visit this website at www.eden-project-accommodation.com|For more case studies view our portfolio at www.cnx-solutions.com

The Tregorran

• This medium sized hotel uses its website to shamelessly “show off” its facilities and commanding elevated position above Carbis Bay. To ensure that potential guests are in no doubt as to what is on offer, the Tregorran website provides several 360 degree views of the hotel and its facilities.
• The site is welcoming and easy to navigate with potential guests able to access details about rooms, facilities and local tourist information quickly.
• The imagery on the website is stunning, matching the Mediterranean style of the hotel itself with views of the sun-drenched landscape. The website proudly flaunts the hotel’s accreditations with Cornish accommodation organisations and the AA.
• A page is dedicated to the hotel’s prime asset, the outdoor heated pool, but the website boasts generous links to a variety of holiday attractions which would be of use to guests with & without children who might be planning a break.
• A detailed booking enquiry form has been integrated into the site whilst full contact details are prominent on the hotel’s home page.
• The overall feel of the site is one of a welcoming atmosphere and high standard of care. Thought has gone into making the site user friendly and helpful, which bodes well for the reception guests would receive when they visit.
• The website makes it very clear that the venue is both suitable and welcoming for children which is an important factor for many people thinking of booking somewhere to stay.
• The Tregorran Hotel is an eighteen bedroom hotel above Carbis Bay. With a terrace, heated pool and direct access to the beach it has a great deal to offer holidaymakers visiting Cornwall.

Successful E Commerce

• E Commerce websites are particularly demanding sites to design. There is as much design work “behind the scenes” as on the pages the public gets to see and the sites need to carry out quite complicated functions in a way that feels intuitive to the user.
• Cnx Web Solutions have designed a variety of e commerce websites on a bespoke design basis. Businesses, their products and their customers are all different. Creating bespoke E Commerce solutions is the best way to ensure that the website fits the needs of a client rather than the other way about!
• Key features we have found essential to a successful e commerce website include:

• Clear navigation
• Easily accessible product images
• Logical structure to the product database
• Easy to use and edit “basket”
• Easy to maintain/update/amend product database
• Easy to access contact details for queries
• Web pages that are attractive but uncluttered
• Secure SSL payment

• These are just the main features of a good site – there are many more! A few examples might include Coopers Ladieswear which is a highly specialised E Commerce site. In addition to the products the site includes features to select size and product colour, reducing a great number of permutations to a simple “select button” action by the customer.
• The site is fully controlled by the client who can add stock, descriptions, images etc as needed.

• A smaller but still very successful e commerce website is the Seachest Nautical Bookshop. Meeting this client’s needs involved a less grand approach, visually speaking, but functionality remains important with stock sub-divided into sections to quickly narrow down the search and images of most products available once that product has been selected.
• The “human faces” behind the e store are highlighted in the About Us section which offers some store history and some information on the people who run it.
• In addition to marine books, Seachest’s online store also has sections for sea charts as well as instructional media and software.

• Different again is the Fairtrade Giftshop  retail website. A vast stock range is cleverly sub divided and all product and section navigation is accompanied by product images which combine to make this a visually rich website that really encourages browsing. Some subtle yet eye-catching flash animation has been worked into the header image as a nice visual touch.
• E Commerce is an increasingly lucrative and popular field. The public is turning to website purchasing in ever increasing numbers and though a good e commerce website is not the cheapest to create (compared to a static site) the on going costs are very low, meaning that on-going revenue can provide a very good return on that initial investment.

Absolute Software

• Absolute Software is a Cornish specialist embedded software developer that is looking to the future with considerable confidence. The launch of their new website very much asserts this positive outlook with a crisp, fresh layout that is professional looking and easy to navigate.
• The company has an impressive project portfolio covering a range of technologies and applications including clients within the automotive, scientific, consumer and industrial sectors.
• The new website details the skills the company offers along with the specific languages, chips and applications the firm has expertise in.
• This website acts as much more then an information site though. It is a practical tool for both Absolute Software and its clients, with online bug tracker and project tracker applications to ease communication between client and service provider.
• The site also includes a news section which the client has full control over and some very positive testimonials from satisfied clients.
• This website achieves all that a good business site should, serving the client, informing new customers about the company and providing a useful means of communication between clients and their project team.
• To view the website click here.

Spiraclimb extends it reach

• Spiraclimb has been successfully selling via the website for quite some time now. The recent addition of the ability to make card payments on the site has done it no harm at all, but the latest innovation is quite bold.
• We have added an "Oversees order" section to the website, allowing orders of the product to be placed from anywhere. As with domestic UK orders, these are despatched on the same working day as the order is received.
• This was an interesting move for Spiraclimb, if only because it was not clear how high the product's profile is overseas (though the site consistently performs well in google keyword searches which must help).
• However in a very short time, we have received orders from both the US and Australia proving that in the World Wide Web if your website crosses boarders so too can the product you sell!