StayBridge
A hotel booking platform for discovering and booking hotels across Nigeria, with search, booking requests, event hall booking and WhatsApp integration.
What I built
StayBridge is a hotel booking platform designed to help users discover, compare and book hotels across Nigeria. The platform brings together hotel listings, room availability, pricing and booking into a single, searchable interface.
The application includes hotel search with filtering, detailed hotel pages with room options, a booking request system, event hall booking, and WhatsApp integration for direct communication with hotels. The entire experience is designed to work smoothly on mobile, where most travel bookings happen.
I built the full application: the frontend interface, the backend API, the hotel and booking data models, the search functionality and the admin tools for managing listings.
The problem I was solving
Finding and booking hotels in Nigeria usually means checking multiple websites, making phone calls, or relying on word-of-mouth. There's no centralized, modern platform that lets you search hotels by location, compare options and book directly — the way platforms like Booking.com work internationally.
The challenge was building a platform that aggregates hotel information into a clean, searchable interface while handling the practical realities of the Nigerian market:WhatsApp as a primary communication channel, flexible booking requests rather than instant confirmations, and event hall bookings alongside room reservations.
How I built it
I used Next.js with TypeScript for the frontend and Node.js for the backend. The application uses server-side rendering for hotel listing pages (important for SEO) and client-side rendering for the search and booking interfaces.
Search & Discovery
Hotel search with filters for location, price range and amenities. Results update in real-time as filters change. Hotel pages include photo galleries, room options and pricing.
Booking System
Users can submit booking requests with check-in/check-out dates, room preferences and special requirements. The system sends confirmations and manages booking status.
Event Hall Booking
Hotels with event spaces can list their halls separately, with capacity, pricing and availability. Users can book event spaces alongside room reservations.
WhatsApp Integration
Direct WhatsApp links let users contact hotels instantly for questions, special requests or booking modifications — meeting users where they already communicate.
What the application does
Hotel Search
Search hotels by location with filters for price, star rating and amenities. Results are fast and the interface works well on mobile.
Detailed Hotel Pages
Each hotel has a dedicated page with photo galleries, room types, pricing, amenities, policies and location information.
Booking Requests
Submit booking requests with dates, room preferences and special requirements. The system handles the request flow and sends confirmations.
Event Hall Booking
Browse and book event spaces at hotels, with details on capacity, pricing and availability for conferences, weddings and gatherings.
WhatsApp Integration
Contact hotels directly through WhatsApp for instant communication — questions, special requests or booking modifications.
Tech stack
Only technologies actually used in this project.
Takeaways from this project
Search UX is a product in itself
Building a search experience that feels fast and relevant — with filters that update results smoothly — required careful attention to loading states, result ordering and mobile interaction patterns.
Meeting users where they are
Adding WhatsApp integration wasn't technically complex, but it dramatically improved the booking experience. For the Nigerian market, WhatsApp is the primary communication channel — and the platform needed to respect that.
Booking systems need careful state management
Managing booking status from request through confirmation to completion required a clear state machine. Each status transition needed to be handled correctly, with appropriate notifications and UI updates.
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