Designed as the centerpiece of George Merrick’s vision of Coral Gables as an elegant, stately suburb which he called “The City Beautiful,” the Biltmore Miami Coral Gables is now a National Historic Landmark with over 95 years of history and hospitality. The hotel is a sprawling luxury resort with extensive grounds featuring the hotel with over 270 rooms and suites on 15 floors, an executive center and conference center, restaurants, a spa, a pro shop, tennis courts, a world-famous pool, a golf course and retail shops. With so much on offer, Biltmore needed a modern hotel wayfinding solution for both on-site guests and visitors to the many events they host each month.
The Visix creative team crafted a feature-rich interactive signage design for the 150-acre property that’s user-friendly while reinforcing the five-star experience their guests expect.
Touchscreens with wayfinding information are mounted in portrait mode throughout the property, with all screens incorporating Biltmore branding and colors. Date, time and weather are shown at the top of each display to keep guests updated, and a message playlist lets the hotel post announcements, welcomes and event ads above the interactive maps.
The interactive wayfinding features detailed floor maps for the hotel, executive center and the Conference Center of the Americas, with icons for common destinations like restrooms, exits, elevators and stairwells. Common wayfinding cues like a “you are here” indicator for each screen keeps guest oriented.
In-depth navigation tools are at the bottom of each screen to meet ADA guidelines. Users can navigate between different floor and building maps, explore a destinations directory, see event listings, look at overhead property maps or view information about rooms and suites.
The destinations directory shows popular destinations sorted by category – activities, dining, meeting rooms, offices, retail – or guests can see a full list of all endpoints. Directory listings show the destination name, type, building and floor. Touching the “find it” button paired with each entry brings up the target destination on the appropriate map and draws an animated visual path from that specific screen to the desired location.
The events directory lists event names, locations and start and end times, and also offers the “find it” instant-mapping feature for each listing. Data is automatically fed to the event schedule from the hotel’s Amadeus Delphi calendar system, so on-screen information is always up to date.
The property map is rendered in 3D graphics, and offers an interactive 360-degree view of where each building is in relation to the others, the golf course and tennis courts, the pool and the grounds. Visitors can quickly access wayfinding maps using touchable tags on each building. Information and high-quality photos about rooms and suites can also be viewed from the homescreen.
This hotel signage solution is a comprehensive offering that matches the brand experience that the Biltmore has maintained for decades. They pride themselves on luxury facilities and service, so it makes sense that their hotel wayfinding is both beautiful and convenient. The visual design is friendly and elegant, and the convenience of information at visitors’ fingertips upholds the hotel’s guests-first philosophy.
This award-winning resort continues to top travel lists and attract top clientele, but the Biltmore aims to give a taste of luxury to everyone who comes through their doors. The custom hotel wayfinding from Visix is just the latest way they’re ensuring that their guests can relax and live the good life.