Instagramming, Snapchat and Facebooking a hotel stay is practically a must for today’s social media savvy travelers, whether it’s because of a view that kills or just the unspoken desire to brag about being on holiday. So it was only a matter of time before a major hotel brand started thinking about building with social media in mind. Hyatt Hotels’ Unbound Collection, which launched this week, is a carefully selected group of independent hotels, each with their own unique identity, history and design, all of which can be easily displayed on social media … or at least Hyatt hopes so.
“Your trip is a shareable nugget,†said Maryam Banikarim, Director of Marketing for Hyatt Hotels. Condé Nast Traveler. “And we want our properties to have something you want to share, not just photos of the room, but your experiences there as well.”
Currently, Unbound has four hotels in its collection—
in Austin; the Louvre hotel in Paris; the Carmelo Resort & Spa in Montevideo, Uruguay; and the Coco Palms Resort in Kauai, Hawaii (which is undergoing renovations and will reopen in 2018). All Unbound hotels will be upscale and luxury properties, that is, four to five star hotels with full service (such as late night room service). The hotel will also be a mix of historic gems, cool contemporary places and new builds.
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Courtesy of Titanic Deluxe Hotel Belek
Closer to the island of Cyprus than Istanbul, the luxurious resort sits along the BeÅŸgöz River, which leads directly to the Mediterranean. With six pools on-site and a private beach just a four-minute boat ride from the river, this location is a beach cabana lover’s dream.
Courtesy of Titanic Deluxe Hotel Belek
The 115-acre theme park, 30 minutes from downtown Tokyo, is Instagram user’s paradise. With beloved characters roaming the trails, extravagant light shows every night around the castle, and plenty of memorabilia (with an added touch of Japanese kitsch), there’s no shortage of places to snap photos.
PA
Even without Instagram, Eloise knew this was the place to be. New York’s century-old icon is especially beautiful during the winter holidays.
Stephane Mar
The iconic red-roofed beachfront hotel is the Victorian masterpiece that makes up much of Coronado Island, off San Diego. Small waves on the beach make the hotel an ideal destination for budding surfers hitting the waves for the first time. Make sure you have Instagram ready for that first pop-up.
BJ Orbase
A favorite of honeymooners and families, this hotel’s beach spans 22 acres of oceanfront sand. The resort is perhaps best known for its psychedelic and iconic rainbow tower, but you’ll find that most “gramers” go straight to the water.
Christan rosolowski
The seaside resorts are not much more recognizable than Atlantis. The combination of classic fishing buildings and stunning waterslides makes this brand’s Bahamian outpost an Instagram star.
Giorgia Angileri
Nothing screams in Ibiza like a hotel with suites around a concert stage. With 234 built around the hotel’s own club, which hosts resident DJs during the summers, you’re guaranteed not to get much sleep. But that’s not what you’re in Ibiza for, is it?
Philipp schröer
Built on the outer ring of Dubai’s famous Palm Island, this Atlantis spot has as much Caribbean flair as you’ll find in the Bahamas. To get this photo, book a helicopter flight around the island.
Grecia Montemayor
Guests like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley have stayed here, before Instagram of course, but it’s the iconic Miami Modern architecture that is making the photos today. While you won’t find Sinatra or Presley, the pool complex still hosts the see-and-be-seen of Miami.
Jacob Zucker
We would recognize this rotating globe anywhere. With 8.3 million visitors in 2014 alone, it’s no surprise that this mega resort is number one on Instagram’s list.
Lewis Abbey
While Unbound does indeed seek out hotels with “rich social currency”, Banikarim reports that Hyatt will not obsessively track a hotel’s number of followers or likes during the inclusion process, especially that Unbound’s future pipeline includes hotels that have yet to be built. . “What we’re really looking for are hotels with a history,†she said, and that goes beyond room amenities. A shareable story on The Driskill, Banikarim said, could involve the ghost known to roam the property turning lights on and off. At the Hotel Du Louvre, its history will be centered on its history as one of the oldest hotels in Paris, while the Carmelo Resort is in the middle of a eucalyptus forest, bringing guests closer to nature .
Because the Unbound Collection is what the hospitality industry calls a “soft†brand, hotels will retain their own names and identities, and the Hyatt brand is kept to a minimum. Customers can only learn that an unrelated property is a Hyatt upon check-in, when they find that their stay can earn them all points in the Hyatt Gold Passport loyalty program. There are fears that Hyatt’s presence in a very individualistic hotel like The Driskill will forever change the appeal of the hotel, but Banikarim insists that hotels will have the freedom to do things the way they always have. , with Hyatt helping behind the scenes.
Unlike other hotel collections – Starwood Hotels and Resorts’ Tribute Portfolio, Hilton Worldwide’s Curio Collection and Marriott International’s Autograph Collection – Unbound plans to include travel experiences outside of hotels, possibly river cruises and ‘other types of adventures. “More and more people value experiences rather than possessions,†Banikarim said. “And people want different kinds of experiences.” So get ready to share your experiences on social media.
Originally appeared on Condé Nast Traveler
