As much as Instagram is a source of travel inspiration, it's also a platform that evokes some serious vacation envy. Selfies in front of iconic landmarks, delicious food spreads, and dreamy landscapes are among the pics you'll find with a tap on the hashtag #travel. Before bidding adieu to 2017, Instagram revealed its most liked posts, most used hashtags, and most popular destinations. However, here at Oyster, we’re most interested in hotels, and as such, we have our eye on the list of most Instagrammed hotels of the year. Take a look at the top 11 hotels flooding your feed below. Spoiler alert: People love the properties in Sin City. (Turns out, what happens in Vegas...apparently gets the snap, crop, filter treatment.)
1. Marina Bay Sands Singapore
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Visitors might flock to Marina Bay Sands, Singapore’s largest hotel, for its restaurants, luxury shopping, or award-winning spa, but above all, the infinity rooftop pool is the biggest draw. Stretching approximately 150 meters, this stunner provides a sweeping view of the city skyline from 57 stories high. Guests can go for a dip, sunbathe on a luxurious poolside lounger with a beverage in hand, and of course, snap photos to their heart’s content (no filter necessary).
2. Bellagio, Las Vegas
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The 3,933-room Bellagio is the embodiment of Vegas luxury. The elaborate Italian-themed courtyard is one of many highlights, with five swimming pools, elaborate sculptures, and fountains. Rooms are sophisticated and contemporary, and all have marble bathrooms with separate glass showers and soaking tubs. Guests (mostly couples, and a healthy dose of families and business travelers) will find formal room service, a superb fitness center and spa, and the best buffet on the Strip; attractions such as the indoor botanical gardens and the dancing fountains are world-famous. Cirque du Soleil performs here, and the massive gaming floor is one of the best in Vegas. Just keep in mind that the property has prices to match its five-pearl service.
3. Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, Las Vegas
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The 5,030-room Venetian is an enormous and extravagant tribute to a place far from the desert, complete with gondola rides and a replica of Saint Mark’s Square. Compared to the other theme-driven Vegas properties, the Venetian distinguishes itself with enormous guest rooms, a world-class spa with 90 treatment rooms, and heaps of premier restaurants.
4. Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai
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Located on an artificial island, this $1.5 billion, 1,539-room mega-resort offers the perfect photo ops. Filled with amenities, including a giant aquarium that’s home to 65,000 sea creatures, a water park where you can brave a steep water slide, nightclubs, a luxury shopping mall, and top-notch restaurants, you’ll never have a dull moment during your stay.
5. MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas
Grand is the operative word. The biggest hotel (by room count) in Las Vegas has the biggest casino in town, many of the best restaurants, an enormous and fun pool complex, and a huge range of on-site entertainment options. But this place is so big and diverse that everyone — yes, everyone — can find what they want, even if the service is unexceptional.
6. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
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The Cosmopolitan has quickly established itself as one of the trendiest spots on the Strip. The typical Vegas kitsch has been swapped out for aggressively modern design and futuristic touches (guests sign in on an iPad). Fanfare aside, rooms are large and feature comfortable, designer furnishings and modern, open bathrooms. All types of travelers seem to come here, from frat boys to gambling grandmothers, but the nights decidedly belong to the younger crowd at BOND and Marquee — as do the days, during Marquee’s seasonal “day club” party poolside. It’s certainly not the most family-friendly option, but couples looking for a phenomenal spa and nearby action won’t be disappointed.
7. Wynn Las Vegas
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Wynn Las Vegas is a luxury hotel at the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, a bit far from the action. It’s 2,716 air-conditioned rooms have posh interiors with large flat-screen TVs, marble accents, and gorgeous Strip or mountain views. Upgraded Tower Suites include perks like a private pool, private check-ins, and free breakfasts. Wynn’s sprawling casino is one of The Strip’s most chic, but can be smoky when crowded. The 13 fine-dining and casual restaurants include a steakhouse, Asian, Italian, and American cuisines, plus a buffet with often long waits. Other amenities include multiple pools, a spa and gym, nightclub, golf course, and meeting rooms.
8. Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas
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Like the MGM Grand or the Venetian, the guiding principle here seems to be excess — the largest poker room in Las Vegas, a 50,000-square-foot spa, a long labyrinth of a shopping mall, and several pools forming the Garden of Gods Pool Oasis. Built in 1966, Caesars Palace is one of the Strip’s first giant hotel-casino stunners. It was packing its over-the-top house with high-profile entertainers well before current Vegas visionary Steve Wynn took the glitzy behemoth hotels concept to the next level — and still is, with Celine Dion, Elton John, and Mariah Carey currently packing in audiences at the Colosseum. But the downside of the hotel’s age is that its base-level (appropriately named) “Classic” rooms are smaller and far more basic than what you’d find in the newer, mid-tier-luxury properties like the MGM Grand. Even so, Caesar’s Palace is still a Vegas powerhouse.
9. Fontainebleau Miami Beach
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After its $1 billion facelift in 2008, the Fontainebleau‘s 1,504 new rooms, nine pools, phenomenal spa and gorgeous design are hard to top. Despite its sexy ads and nightclub, it’s a relaxed property that attracts mostly families and convention goers. Its peaceful Miami Beach location — next to the also snazzy Eden Roc hotel — is 30 blocks from the South Beach action.
10. Paris Las Vegas
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It’s hard not to find this campy reproduction of the City of Lights endearing, with its scaled-down replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, and its tongue-in-cheek French touches (from the “Le Service Desk” sign to the Poo-Pourri sold in the French toiletries shop). While not exactly a visit to the real Paris, Strip tourists and hotel guests can be found treating it as such at all hours — snapping pictures of the reproduction of the Alexander III Bridge that spans the casino, strolling the cobblestone streets of Le Boulevard, the Epcot-like market, and gazing up at the vaulted casino ceiling. And although everyone from young singles to older couples books here, the property feels particularly geared toward families. The value-priced rooms don’t hurt either.
11. Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel
The luxury adults-only Ushuaia Ibiza Beach Hotel is hands down the most stylish place to be for those wanting to be right in the throes of Ibiza’s world-famous nightlife. Not only does it host the best international DJs several times a week, but it also has all the ingredients for a world-class party-oriented stay, including rooms with DJ turntables, blackout curtains, erotica kits, high-tech amenities, and a striking design. There are even two stylish pools, a rooftop bar with some of the best views around, and seven restaurants and bars — all of which come at some of Ibiza’s highest prices.
You’ll Also Like:
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- The Travel Stories Oyster.com Readers Loved Most in 2017
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