The hospitality industry has expanded far beyond hotels, motels, and inns to a diverse range of possibilities through homestays and unconventional lodging. Defining identity through branding has made it even more important for hotels to stand out and convince past, present, and future clientele why they should stay with you.
Whether your logo communicates a bespoke overnight stay or a straightforward corporate atmosphere ideal for business trips, intentional and clear branding is the answer. Logos have the ability on their own to grow a clientele based on how much the viewer connects with the identity and message.
Last year, Tom Geismar shared with the 99% Invisible podcast that people are now “more aware (and critical) of logos than ever before.” Because of how close we keep our mobile devices to us at all times, logos are our immediate acknowledgement of a business, as its brand identity is used as the application symbol.
What makes a good hotel logo?
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How do you communicate a hotel experience through abstraction? How do you contain your core values and history in just a few memorable words? These are important questions to ask to begin visualizing how your logo may take shape. You want your logo to communicate the essence of the experience you are offering your guests.
Even without design experience, it’s important to consider the context for where your branding is headed. As you start thinking about your logo design, you should ask yourself the following questions: Which category does my accommodation fit into? What’s the feeling I want to evoke in my guests? What’s the style that would fit the vibe and atmosphere of my hotel or B&B?
Your guests will encounter your logo in numerous places, from your front door and reception desk to your restaurant menu and spa towels. Your logo should seamlessly fit into and enhance your guests’ experience during their stay with you.
Want a logo that makes your guests feel right at home? Work with our talented designers to make it happen.
Amazing ideas for hotel logos
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Logos aimed at guests who mean business
For hotels that focus on offering the ideal stay for traveling professionals, their logo design should reflect that in its general tone. That means your logo should be as sleek and professional as the stay that business people can expect. At the same time, your logo should reflect the comfort, convenience and luxury you offer. Go for a modern yet classic look and feel.
Utilize inspiration taken from landmarks or airports if there is one close by to suggest its convenient location. Understand the meaning behind the colors implemented in your design, and consider using classic and clean typography to solidify a corporate identity.
Boutique and bespoke hotel logos
Hotels with a specific clientele, whether that be a lodge deep in the forest or a hotel situated on a vineyard, must focus on how this is communicated through the design. Boutique and bespoke hotels already elicit a strong identity. Utilize your hotel’s greatest charms, unique features, or its most hospitable offerings to inspire the logo that sticks.
Hotel logos for luxurious stays
How does your hotel communicate that guests will have an experience beyond their expectations and stay in an accommodation well beyond the typical hotel? Luxury does not always mean extravagance, and simplistic design could communicate the aforementioned questions just as easily. Consider your location, demographics of your guests, and what makes your hotel stand out, then drive those points home with a classy logo.
Hotel logos for a familiar and residential touch
For a home away from home, familiarity is key. Cozy color schemes, statements around comfort and friendly graphics could strengthen a hotel’s argument for its more residential atmosphere.
Logos for hotels with an established name
Hotel chains on a local, national, and global level all need a logo that suits their name and reputation and their logo should remind guests that they are still as good as ever. Creating an unforgettable logo design that a diverse demographic of guests are attracted to is a serious task, though beginning with simple yet unique design is the ideal route.
The fundamentals of logo design
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If you’re coming into logo design without any experience, it can be intimidating. Here we’ll give you a crash course in logo design in general.
Logo design is a nuanced specialization of graphic design that encompasses aesthetics, branding & marketing, composition, color theory, typography and artistic skill. We give a fuller introduction to the craft in our free online guide How to design a logo, but here we’ll summarize some key points to provide a little background.
Design for your brand. There’s not one “best type of logo”—the most successful logos are the ones that best represent their brand. The red and garish typography of the Coca Cola logo suit the brand well, but those same design choices would hurt more relaxed hotel brands like a nature lodge or a wellness resort.
So before anything else, you have to consider what kind of brand you want your accommodation to be—your “brand identity.” Are you a classic, traditional brand or an edgy, modern brand? Are you all about experiencing nature or luxury? That will guide your design choices, in particular colors, shapes and letters.
Colors, shapes and letters. Each different color and shape represents different emotions—for example, logos with excessive black seem more sophisticated, logos with a lot of circles seem friendlier etc. Likewise, that extends to font choice, such a formal serifs vs. casual sans-serif. Every design decision reflects on your brand, so build your brand identity from the ground up with strategic choices.
How to get a logo
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As we explained in our guide on Comparing the best ways to get a logo designed, a company has four main options for getting a logo. Let’s briefly review them now:
- Logo maker (DIY). With the help of a logo maker or other entry-level design software, you essentially make your logo yourself from scratch.
- Hire a design agency. You hand off all logo design duties to a design agency and their suite of specialists, but the extra talent comes at an extra cost.
- Work with a freelancer. You can find a freelance designer to design your logo for you. This gives you the benefit of a professional at less cost than an agency.
- Commission a design contest. In a design contest, you explain what you want in a briefing, including visual preferences and business goals. Multiple designers from all over the world then submit samples based on your briefing. From there, you simply pick the one you like best and start revisions. You only pay for the one sample you choose.
For starters, DIY and logo makers are only advisable under extreme circumstances, like if you have next to nothing in your budget. Your logo is an asset too important to skimp on, and considering how complicated logo design is, if it’s not designed by a professional, it may not be as effective as it could be.
From there, it’s a decision of both cost and preference. If your only concern is price, check out our Logo design cost guide for more detailed distinctions.
The strongest advantage of design contests—and the reason they’re so popular—is that it leverages the creativity of multiple designers, who come up with different ideas of logo designs you can choose from. If you’re still unsure what style and look is right for you, a contest has the benefit of experimentation—you may not know what logo design best suits you until you see some creative drafts from several designers.
If you already know what style and look you’re going for, your best bet is going to be working directly with a freelancer. You can browse portfolios to find the perfect match in terms of style and then work with the freelancer to get exactly what you’re looking for.
Are you ready to get an amazing hotel logo?
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Logos have consistently proven their importance as we move forward in such a visual world. Hotels are no exception and require a powerful brand identity to stand out from their competitors. Logo design can be inspired by the most subtle or obvious aspect—whether that be a local herb often served at the hotel restaurant or a literal visualization of the hotel’s name. Give your accommodation the attention it deserves by aligning with a logo that guests will look forward to and remember long after check out.
