For over 25 years, OpenHotel has been the quiet powerhouse of hospitality management. Unlike competitors built on messy acquisitions, OpenHotel runs on a fully proprietary ecosystem—from Property Management Systems (PMS) to Channel Managers. With zero downtime in five years, they deliver on their promise of “Advanced Hotel Software Made Simple”.

This project was also a unique “homecoming” for AndThereWas. Decades ago, our founder, Cleo Henderson, served as the Sr. Web Designer & UI Developer for OpenHotel (formerly Alternate Image) during their early years and was “the creative department” for 3.5 of his 5 budding design expert years with OpenHotel. Returning to modernize their brand and platform for the next generation wasn’t just business—it was personal stewardship.

The Challenge: Breaking the Rebranding Cycle

Despite a bulletproof backend, the frontend identity needed a 2024 refresh. For years, OpenHotel struggled to modernize their rebranding, cycling through internal attempts and external agencies with no success. Frustrated by the stagnation, leadership finally looked back to move forward. They asked, “I wonder what Cleo is doing?” and decided, “We need to Cleo this thing.”

• Services: Product Design, Brand Design Consulting, SDLC UI Optimization
• Timeline: 13-Day Agile Design Sprint to deliver assets to in-house development team

The Approach: Optimized for the SDLC

We didn’t just design for aesthetics; we optimized for the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) to ensure the engineering team could execute immediately.

• Agile Velocity: We bypassed agency bloat, executing a high-impact 13-day design sprint that moved from kickoff to final approval in under two weeks.
• UI Modernization: We introduced modern sticky headers for improved navigation and organic “paint blob” visual elements to break the rigidity of standard SaaS grids, breathing new life into the user experience.
• Dev-Ready “No Lock-In”: A key insight for Tech Leadership—we empower your internal teams. We delivered pristine Illustrator (Brand) and Sketch (UI) source files. This allowed OpenHotel to utilize their in-house engineers for the build, saving significant budget while maintaining total control over their code.

“It’s coming along great! … I’m in love xoxoxo.” — Valerie Herrin, COO, OpenHotel, Inc.

The Outcome: Performance-First Design

The partnership functioned as fractional design leadership. Beyond the visuals, we advised the development team on implementing SVG icon systems and image optimization (via TinyPNG) to ensure the new UI enhancements improved User Experience (UX) without sacrificing SEO rankings or load speeds.

The redesigned site soft-launched (via the OpenHotel team) on April 4, 2024, successfully blending a 25-year legacy with a modern digital future.