FeelFree Rentals
Feels like home
FeelFree Rentals
Feels like home
Context, challenge and objectives
FeelFree is a management company for holiday and seasonal accommodation in San Sebastián and Baqueira, offering apartments, villas and suites where guests can “feel free to experience your holiday your way, without looking at the clock”. These spaces are designed as true homes, allowing travellers to enjoy memorable stays as if they were in their own house.
It is a company in full expansion, with two business lines that respond to different customer profiles and needs: FeelFree Rentals and FeelFree Stays.
Comfort, a sense of enjoyment within the spaces, modernity, quality and exquisite decoration have always been the characteristics the founders sought during their travels around the world—and which they wanted to see reflected in the FeelFree Rentals apartments.
The challenge we faced was to strategically and visually define a brand already established in the market, but in need of a strategic structure and a strong, coherent visual identity across all brand touchpoints.
The need for a website with an effective user experience—simple, clear and intuitive—was one of the client’s main objectives, and one that we approached from the brand strategy itself.
Analysis
The discovery and analysis phase made it clear that, in a highly competitive market such as holiday rentals, the strengths of FeelFree Rentals lay, on the one hand, in the central location of its apartments, which allows families or groups of friends to enjoy the city with ease, and, on the other, in the fact that the apartments are conceived as refined homes, with a distinctly Basque style that appeals to a wide audience—far more than simply design-forward properties for short holiday stays.
FeelFree’s offer is perfectly aligned with its target audience: people aged between 40 and 60, Spanish, American and Northern European, with high purchasing power, who want to enjoy a relaxing holiday, savouring life’s pleasures and sharing them with those they care about most. A “tourist who does not want to look like a tourist”: discreet, yet willing to be seen. A customer persona who enjoys the apartment as if it were their own home—someone who shares moments, celebrates, cooks or prepares aperitifs, then toasts to life and feels the pulse of the city (or destination).
The warmth of the exquisitely designed, “soft” interiors centred on comfort, the closeness of the staff, the ease of using the facilities independently, and the broad range of excellent, personalised services designed entirely with the guest in mind all grant the user complete freedom to enjoy their holiday time however they wish.
These characteristics and attributes of FeelFree Rentals gave us the keys to defining clear strategic insights for structuring the brand and shaping the roadmap for its future development. Over the course of the project, and through multiple interactions with the client, we also confirmed that FeelFree, as a global brand, required a clear brand architecture to bring coherence to the naming of the apartment categories, which had evolved over time without a defined criterion.
Strategy
The analysis revealed clear and powerful insights on which to build the brand platform, leading us to consider a foundational concept centred around the idea of home: spaces where guests can find moments of relaxation, silence, protection and security, allowing them to discover, experience and enjoy their chosen destinations in total comfort, thinking of nothing else but making the most of their time away.
We built the brand strategy based on the relationship between the product and the destination experience, around the idea of permeability, an exchange between home and destination — a symbiosis, a connection between the concepts of HOME, understood as a physical space synonymous with comfort, protection and quietness, a point of reference, and ENJOYMENT, encompassing experiences, holiday relaxation, tranquillity and happiness.
“An open home to your destination” was the tagline chosen for FeelFree Rentals: a reflection of a calm yet responsive brand that embodies the values of freedom and autonomy — the ability to do things “my own way”, without limits or schedules.
We defined its unique and distinctive identity around a purpose that inspires people to enjoy a premium home in which to indulge themselves — a bright, welcoming space open to encounters with family and friends, as well as to the experiences offered by the destination. Spaces designed to be lived inwards, and also to look outwards, embracing the city.
Enjoying the pleasures of life that the destination offers, seeking wellbeing and comfort in an environment of harmony and excellence — an essence fully embedded in the company’s DNA.
During the project, FeelFree expanded its product offering through the creation of the FeelFree Stays brand (here the case study), which we developed together. This allowed us to complete the new monolithic brand architecture, providing a definitive solution to the challenge of how to organise and structure the brand: clearly defining the parent brand, the sub-brands and the descriptors for the various accommodation solutions (and their individual names).
A structure that is simple, easy to understand, coherent and highly implementable.
The brand’s personality: elegant, highlighting the relaxed luxury of the apartments; open, confident, friendly, casual and laid-back.
Identidad visual y aplicaciones
The brand expresses itself by creating a contemporary visual universe, with simple, balanced and subtly playful compositions, freely combining elements while ensuring clarity, correct legibility and a well-structured information hierarchy.
The chosen typeface, Hook Regular, is a display font with stylised shapes and open counterforms that give it a delicate and elegant appearance. Details such as the curved joints add strong personality and distinctiveness to the brand.
The secondary typeface, Poppins, is the perfect complement, simplifying the reading of body text in communications and balancing the forcefulness of the headline typography created with the primary font.
The typographic compositions are sophisticated, seeking equilibrium by playing with alignment and text size to bring rhythm to the overall visual identity.
For the logotype, we used the Neue World typeface. Its smooth forms and refined details give it an elegant appearance, while the weight of its strokes brings solidity and sobriety.
For the symbol, we drew the arm of the “F”, aiming for a freer, more organic stroke that still follows the shapes of the typeface — evoking the wing of a bird in full flight.
The photographic style is editorial, conveying quality by focusing on details, lived-in spaces, the local offering and the people who enjoy the experience.
The chosen colour palette is a combination of bright, vibrant tones for the San Sebastián apartments and elegant, calming tones for those in Baqueira.
Web design and development
The redesign of the FeelFree Rentals website, where the new brand identity was applied, aims to improve navigation flow, make the apartment booking and management process more efficient, and ensure an optimal user experience across all devices.
The website design was completely transformed, shifting from a sober aesthetic to a more elegant one that reflects the exclusive character of the accommodation. The carefully selected colours not only reinforce the brand identity, but also create a welcoming atmosphere that invites users to explore the platform. Custom, distinctive icons aligned with the overall site aesthetics help users quickly and visually locate information. The use of high-quality photography of both properties and destinations is key to creating an emotional connection with users.
he website navigation is designed to be intuitive and seamless, making it easy for users to search for and book properties efficiently. The expanded search filters allow users to quickly refine their preferences and find clear, comprehensive information for each property, including key details such as rates, availability and standout features.
This extends to the redesigned private areas for guests and property owners, where users can easily manage their bookings or properties, review their stay history, and update their personal and billing information. The new design is fully responsive, meaning it adapts to tablets and mobile devices of all sizes. Special attention was given to the mobile version, as a significant portion of users begin their searches on smartphones.
The FeelFree Rentals website redesign has been a success both in terms of improving the user experience and increasing the site’s conversion and visibility.
