Oyster Photo Fakeouts

Jamaica Photo Fakeout: Sexy lady phenomenon

See if you can spy the difference between these photos. Don't think too hard -- it's pretty obvious. Did you get it? The answer is: humans! That's right -- real, live hotel guests. [...]

Miami Photo Fakeout: Model Man goes surfing in a hot tub

South Beach's Aqua Hotel isn't a horrible place to stay, but it's definitely not all its website makes it out to be. Even granting that the hotel can't be expected to have the hotty model around all the time, the "pool" -- which in fact is no bigger than a hot tub -- is laughably less impressive than the carefully cropped images on the hotel's home page might suggest. [...]

Hawaii Photo Fakeout: The magical art of the teensy pool crop

This Oahu hotel may be named the Aqua Aloha Surf, but it certainly doesn't have a whole lot of aqua in its lima bean pool. Just like the The Equus, the hotel shows a zoomed-in, cropped section of the pool on its website to give the illusion that there's a lot more pool than there actually is. [...]

L.A. Photo Fakeout: The magic of framing hides the magic of Macy's

Listen, Sofitel L.A. We understand that you'd probably rather not advertise for Macy's on your own website -- and we understand you'd rather not advertise the fact that Macy's is right there, bumpin' up against your pool. [...]

Hawaii Photo Fakeout: Say bye-bye to your serene hotel beach scene

Oh no! The quiet beach paradise this couple seems to be enjoying in the above marketing photo of the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort on Oahu does not seem to be quite so serene these days. The flawless expanse of blue sky shown in the promo pics seems to be... not such a flawless expanse anymore. [...]

Wedding Photo Fakeout: A classy, intimate beach wedding for everybody!

Imagine setting a date to say your vows -- notifiying only your nearest and dearest; a handful of your most cherished family members and pals -- and running off to the Dominican Republic with your spouse-to-be, dizzy with excitement and drunk on love. And imagine, if you will, that this lovely photo of a beaming just-married couple led you to book this pristine white gazebo at the Riu Palace Punta Cana in which to say your nuptials. [...]

Jamaica Photo Fakeout: Riu Negril Club

Hotels can be good at hiding things under the covers. The Riu Negril Club website photo would be pretty accurate, if it didn't camouflage one very important fact: The "king bed" is really two double beds pushed together. [...]

D.R. Photo Fakeout: This buffet looked more delicious in 1988

The following is a dream sequence, inspired by the buffet on the left (as shown on the Grand Palladium Bavaro Resort and Spa's website):

TROY: Oh, Tammy. You know, I'm going to get around to smelling that scrumptious-looking buffet here in front of us, but right now I'm quite happily occupied with invading your personal space and sticking my nose in your perfectly-coiffed hair. [...]

L.A. Photo Fakeout: Can you spot the differences between these two images?

Looks like someone got all dressed up for picture day!

On the left is the image of a Deluxe King room displayed on Ayres Hotel's website. On the right is a picture we snapped during our stay. Can you spot the differences between these two photos? [...]

D.C. Photo Fakeout: The U.S. Capitol is close, but not this close

Proximity to power is valuable currency in Washington, D.C. So it won't surprise folks inside the Beltway that the city's prominent players occasionally exaggerate their standing. But we're from New York City, and we couldn't help but notice that this photo, which appears on the website of the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, gives the false impression that the hotel practically stands in the shadows of the U.S. Capitol. [...]

Miami Photo Fakeout: Oops! Read the fine print before booking at The Four Seasons

Ah, to be a guest at The Four Seasons Miami. The carpet is a lovely, subtle beige hue, the curtains are understated and elegant, and the city (and your troubles) are far, far away...

Or so they'd like you to think. [...]

Jamaica Photo Fakeout: Breezes Montego Bay

The beautiful sunset, lush foliage, cushioned lounge chairs and decorative Jacuzzi tiles in the Breezes Montego Bay hotel website photo below look lovely and romantic -- but, as our reporter found, they don't actually exist! [...]

Miami Photo Fakeout: The Essex House Hotel

We think The Essex House Hotel in South Beach, Miami is a great value -- but we're not big fans of their Photoshopped marketing photos. [...]

Las Vegas Photo Fakeout: Don't go chasing waterfalls at Wynn's Tryst

Ladies, you're going to want to bring your dancing shoes to Tryst at the Wynn Las Vegas -- but after checking out the image of the impressive waterfall shown on the Wynn's website compared to the real shot of the waterfall in question, you'll be tempted to pack a suitcase full of cheapie heels and leave your prized Jimmy Choo collection at home because, it would seem, you'll be dancing in a pool of water. [...]

Hawaii Photo Fakeout: The magical art of the teensy pool crop, Part 2

Take a gander at the images above; the picture on the left was pulled from each hotel's website, the one on the right was snapped by Oyster reporters. Yes, The Equus on Oahu appears to have slyly attempted the ol' crop trick -- which we first saw back in Miami with our surfing Mr. Model Man -- in which a hotel's pool photos are presented in an artfully-trimmed way so as to (perhaps) suggest that there is much, much more to the pool. But usually there isn't. [...]

New York Photo Fakeout: The Soho Grand and the case of bedraggled bed

Something tells us that Lindsay Lohan and her handlers would not be impressed with this: check out the rumpled bed linens we encountered at the luxe NYC celebrity haunt The Soho Grand. Our reporter assures us that she did not, in fact, sleep in this bed before she snapped these shots. And yes, the photo on the left is the bed (with picture-perfect linens) promised to us by the website. [...]

Las Vegas Photo Fakeout: Color me sad

On the left is the image used by the California Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to promote their Deluxe King rooms. On the right is a photo of the same type of room, um, in real life. [...]

Jamaica Photo Fakeout: Smiling gym-goers are questionable

Listen, hotel marketers: nobody smiles at the gym. The gym is a No-Fun Zone. People don't go to the hotel fitness center to chitty-chat like that; they go to the hotel bar. You're practically begging us to expose a Photo Fakeout with this kind of thing. [...]

D.C. Photo Fakeout: Ain't no lobby too small for a Kimpton wine party

You know, this Photo Fakeout is rather heartwarming.

See, the photo on its website gives no indication that the lobby of Kimpton's Hotel Madera in D.C. is tiny. But the photos -- snapped by an Oyster reporter just last week (spoiler: D.C. is coming soon!) -- show that the lobby is, in fact, teensy. And...that's okay. [...]

Miami Photo Fakeout: The Townhouse gets by with a little help from its photo-editor friends

Well, we can think of one person in this great country that deserved yeserday's holiday -- it seems like someone certainly labored long and hard in Photoshop to produce the image on the left. [...]

Jamaica Photo Fakeout: Another reason to be suspicious of people who smile in gyms

Alright: it has been established that Montego Bay has to be seen to be believed. That is, the photos on some Montego Bay hotels' websites are not to be believed. *Ahem* [...]

Miami Photo Fakeout: The smiling gym-goer strikes again

Oh, look. A photo pulled off of a hotel website featuring people smiling and laughing in a gym, a place where people are (typically) neither smiling nor laughing. [...]