A Piece of Okanagan Golf Paradise
Speaking of Accommodations..
Golf at Vernon's Predator Ridge, stay at Paradise Inn and Vacation Homes.*
Paradise Inn and Vacation Homes is a company offering "affordable, luxurious accommodations," to golfers and tourists alike at Predator Ridge, located in the BC Interior.
I was set up with some web development work for these guys through a relative who owns some property out in the area - that being Predator Ridge, a spiffy golf resort in the beautiful Okanagan-Thompson region. I used to live there, and were it not for other, larger employment opportunities, I'd go back in an instant.
The Okanagan area has some amazing sights, and there's lots to see and do pretty much year-round. The folks at Paradise Inn are right at Predator Ridge and aside from the usual golf-and-stay packages, they also have some wine tours and relaxing spa accommodation packages as well. I know this for fact, because I had to type all of it out - or at the least, copy, paste and proof-read.
Developing a Golf Site?
Not exactly.
One of the assumptions of course when coming up with ideas for the design of this site was that it should be themed around golf, being green and showing photos of the golf course. This was not necessarily the case, as Paradise Inn and Predator Ridge appeal not only to golfers but to tourists of the general Vernon and Kelowna area.
Downtown Vernon is at most a 10-minute driver from Predator Ridge, and Kelowna is little over a half hour away. 30 minutes might seem like a while, but chances are you won't notice the time - since the Okanagan landscape is so amazing, you'll probably spend most of your time looking out the window.
Predator Ridge appeals mostly to golfers given that the resort focuses around golf, and yet it is just that - a resort - and is beginning to offer services that are more typical of a year-round liveable, sustainable community rather than just a vacation home spot. There are people now who live there year-round, as I understand.
Because of the strong golf connection, the design chosen for Paradise Inn's site provides a green golf-ish look and feel, but doesn't dive right into having putting greens, divots and holes as the primary elements of navigation or content for example. There is usually an image at the top showing an overheard shot of the course and/or surrounding area, confirming, "yes, we are in fact located on a golf course" - and past that is content specific to the accommodation, scheduling and services that Paradise Inn offers.
Something For Everyone.
You don't have to "stay and play," as in fact you could stay in one of the suites right on Predator Ridge, and drive into town or out to tour some local Vernon or Kelowna wineries, without ever having to set foot on a putting green if you so wish. The suites themselves are quite nice - check out some of the vacation home pictures; pretty fancy!
There are lots of things to do year-round; golf, camping and water-skiing in the summer, skiing, sledding and tobbogganing in the winter. Vernon and Kelowna both offer a good range of shops, businesses and services, in addition to the well-known local wineries and a number of other tourist attractions. You could visit both cities in a day, then head back to Predator Inn for a relaxing evening.
Paradise Inn provides a number of available suites in an excellent vacation hotspot. Not only that, their site is also standards-compliant and gracefully degrades across older and unsupported browsers. Credit for the overall graphic design goes to John Godfrey. Hit John's site up while you're at it - he's a talented graphic designer.
* Append shameless self-interest-plug disclaimer(s) here.