Case Study

Bringing Plume’s Restaurant, Villas & Wines Together in One Refined Experience

Plume came to us with a fragmented digital presence: three separate websites for the restaurant, villas, and wine cellar. They needed a single, cohesive experience that reflected the true Plume story, refined luxury, warm hospitality, and one integrated destination.

We helped them merge and modernise their online presence into a bespoke WordPress site that feels like “one Plume”, and guides guests seamlessly to dine, stay, celebrate, and enjoy Runner Duck wines.

Who is Plume

Plume is a destination hospitality experience in Matakana, offering a refined dining and local seasonal cuisine, luxury accommodation in a peaceful vineyard setting, tastings and wine experiences as well as place for ceremonies, receptions and conferences in one beautiful location Founded by their passionate hosts Clyde and Farida.

Identifying Key Areas for Improvement

Initially, Plume had three separate websites: one for the restaurant, one for the villas, and one for the wine cellar. On paper it made sense, but in reality it created friction for both the business and their guests.

For Plume

Managing three separate sites became messy and time-consuming, with fragmented content updates and inconsistent branding that no longer matched the on-site experience. Spreading traffic across multiple domains diluted SEO, while unclear user journeys led to lower conversions and fewer bookings. On top of that, the outdated tech stack caused ongoing performance issues that held the digital experience back.

For their guests

The experience felt confusing, with unclear differences between the restaurant, villas, and wine offering, and little sense of how they connected. This led to missed opportunities, as many visitors didn’t realise they could stay at Plume and even host their wedding in the same place. A poor mobile experience made simple tasks like booking harder than they should be, and overall the disjointed journey made Plume feel like separate businesses rather than a single, integrated destination.

How did we know where to look?

Bronte has been making WordPress websites for the last 15 years, we have condensed all that knowledge into our Website Health Check which we used on Plume, pair that with the fact we have done this countless times before, it was almost a no brainer on which direction to take.

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Implementation Process

Here is what we did to execute a thoughtful redesign

The Kick-off

We met with owners Clyde and Farida to understand Plume’s vision and challenges, then audited their three existing sites. Using Google Analytics and real user feedback, we identified where visitors were getting confused, dropping off, or missing key booking paths.

The Wireframes

We mapped out the main user journeys, dining, staying, weddings, conferences, and wine and turned them into clear wireframes. This let us prioritise core tasks like bookings and enquiries first, ensuring the new site was genuinely easy to use before we worried about aesthetics.

The Design

With the structure in place, we crafted a visual direction of “refined luxury but welcoming.” We kept Plume’s signature red as a hero accent without overwhelming the interface, and built layouts around their new photography to showcase the restaurant, villas, and events as one integrated experience

The Development

We developed a bespoke WordPress site using ACF instead of page builders, tailored exactly to Plume’s content and workflows. Restaurant bookings were integrated via embedded providers, villa bookings connected to the external engine, and all enquiries were streamlined through Gravity Forms.

Go for launch

We thoroughly tested the site across devices, focusing on mobile usability, performance, and SEO redirects from the old sites. After final content tweaks and client walkthroughs, we launched the unified Plume website, giving guests a clear, cohesive way to discover, book, and enjoy everything Plume offers in one place.

What Results did Bronte get
Plume?

Strengthened Brand Presence

Enhanced User Experience

Improved Engagement

Positive Client Feedback

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