Projects Blife
More than 40 properties in the Algarve, on a single website.
Blife is a family business in Faro, Portugal, with two seafront hostels and more than 40 rental properties. We built its WordPress website, in Portuguese and English, so that every traveller can find their place and book direct.
- Client
- Blife Vacation Rentals
- Industry
- Tourism and accommodation
- What we did
- Bilingual WordPress website with direct booking
The context
Blife began in 2014 with a single rental house, driven by its founder and his family. In 2018 it opened its first hostel and today it runs two: Faro Beach, a few steps from the sea, and Faro Sun, between the airport and Faro beach.
It also manages more than 40 properties in Olhão, Faro, Montenegro and Praia de Faro, with around 200 rooms, and a team of more than 60 people. In 2024 it received the Booking.com Award as a market leader.
The challenge
To present, on a single website, a company that grew quickly and serves very different kinds of traveller. That meant solving three things.
- Two businesses in one. Hostels for backpackers and young travellers, and private rooms and apartments for families and couples.
- Direct bookings. Travellers should be able to book from the website, without relying solely on the platforms.
- Travellers from around the world. The website had to speak Portuguese and English.
How do you organise, on a single website, a company with two hostels, more than 40 properties and guests from all over the world?
The decisions
Three decisions shaped the website.
Two paths from the start
The home page separates the hostels from the private rooms and apartments, so that every traveller goes straight to what they are looking for.
Booking without leaving the hostel page
Each hostel has its own date search, connected to the booking engine, with a 5% discount for booking on the website.
Portuguese and English
The whole website is available in both languages, with a language selector that is always visible.
Two businesses, one front door.
From the home page, travellers choose between the hostels and the private rooms and apartments.
What we did, from the first visit to the booking.
Booking in plain sight
Each hostel page opens with a check-in and check-out date search and a clear benefit: a 5% discount for booking on the website. The button leads straight to the Cloudbeds booking engine.
Private rooms and apartments are booked through their own platform, Hostify, linked from the menu.
Everything each hostel offers
Amenities are shown with icons: terrace, outdoor shower, shared kitchen, barbecue and direct beach access. So is the number of private and shared rooms, and what each one includes.
Each hostel page adds photos of the rooms, activities such as surf lessons, the volunteer programme and a guide to Faro.
Trust on display
The Booking.com market leader award has its own band on the home page. Together with the company’s story, from a single house to more than 40 properties, it gives travellers reasons to book direct.
Designed for mobile
Many travellers book from their phones. On mobile, the date search appears as soon as you open the hostel page, and the amenities are laid out in two columns.
A website that grows with the business
The website is built on WordPress, with pages for each hostel, the company’s story and the contact details of each property. Adding a new property or hostel is straightforward.
- WordPress
- PHP
Results
What we learned
- Separating early saves clicks. When travellers choose between a hostel and an apartment from the home page, they reach the booking faster.
- Direct booking needs a reason. A clear benefit, such as the 5% discount, makes booking on the website worthwhile.
- Trust is designed too. The award, the company’s story and the contact details of each property carry as much weight as the photos.
