@jloper To perform the mentioned UI changes, you should be technically sound on the default QloApps architecture. You can read more about the QloApps tech stack here
To add the required text on the homepage just above the search widget, you can follow this file path and make the needful changes:
modules/hotelreservationsystem/views/templates/hook/headerHotelDescBlock.tpl
For further doubts or queries, you can raise a support ticket