Holiday photos have long been an integral part of the travel experience. But with the dawning of the Instagram era, taking jaw-dropping photos has suddenly become a top priority for many.
With this in mind, resorts and hotels around Asia are going the extra mile to deliver curated photo opportunities for social media. Here’s a sampling of some of the most Instagrammable hotels in Asia.
ASIA’S INSTAGRAMMABLE HOTELS
Banyan Tree Samui
Nestled into a lush tropical hillside overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, the 38-acre Banyan Tree Samui offers some of the most picturesque views you can imagine. In fact, the resort has published its own “7 Photo Spots” brochure for guests to study ahead of arrival.
Guests can snap photos of a magnificent panoramic vista encompassing sapphire sea from the restaurants. Or they can photograph the white sand beach, a cove flanked by coral reefs, with the resort in the foreground.
The more intrepid selfie-seekers can climb even higher — literally. There’s a hilltop where they can take in a sweeping 360-degree shot of the entire coastline. From the private villas, the perfect Instagrammable photo opportunity awaits from the edge of the infinity pool.
Alma Cam Ranh
Alma this year clinched a coveted spot in ‘The Most Instagrammable Hotel in the World’. Tens of thousands of readers of the website Luxury Travel Advisor voted Alma one of the most Instagrammable hotels in Asia and Indian Ocean. This placed it in the poll’s top four resorts worldwide. And for very good reason.
The resort is anchored by 12 swimming pools that cascade down to dramatic Long Beach. This spot alone has attracted serious attention from Vietnamese celebrities.
Singers Quang Vinh, Bao Thy, Dan Truong, and Trinh Thang Binh have all posted photos. Actors Hoang Yen Chibi and Tuan Tran have also shared photos of Alma’s pools online. Afterwards, countless guests began replicating their popular images. power couple Thuy Tien and Cong Vinh and the ‘Xoai (Mango) Family’ have also posted their photos at the resort too.
Hyatt Regency Koh Samui
The designers of the new Hyatt Regency Koh Samui knew that instagrammable hotels are now very much in demand. So they made sure that this hotel had great visual allure via the Gallery of Eight. This is a collection of eight sites dotted around the property that are specially selected for their photogenic appeal.
The property fully leverages the beauty of Koh Samui through its coastal location. It showcases the protected native yangna trees and many inspired architectural features. The latter includes a showpiece lobby where skylights allow for natural illumination by the sun and the moon.
There’s also a valley that abounds with colorful tropical flora and the largest pool zone on the island. This pool zone is a collection of four pools, each cascading down from the main pool on the upper deck.
Tanah Gajah, a Resort by Hadiprana
Bali’s only hot air balloon rises over the rice fields of the Tanah Gajah several times a day. For many travelers, it’s a highlight of a visit to Bali because the view from above ground is stunning. You can see Mount Agung on a clear day.
However, the most popular shot is just below with the impressive balloon in the background of a paddy-side picnic. World travelers and content creators Giulia and Donato of @_dgtravel_ are among the visitors who captured this top Instagrammable moment.
Azerai Resorts
Vietnam’s top actors, supermodels, and social media influencers have been flocking to the three Azerai Resorts in Vietnam. Most of them have been happily staging fashion photo shoots amid the resorts’ colorful and picturesque backdrops.
Azerai resort guests include celebrity Quynh Anh Shyn, who has 2.6 million Instagram followers. International supermodel and singer Ha Anh Vu and popular actress Le Ha Truc have also checked into these hotels. These Vietnamese stars have posted gorgeous imagery of these very instagrammable hotels. Please note that these photos were all shot prior to the latest wave of pandemic lockdowns.
Quynh Anh Shyn captured the sunset overlooking the ocean from Azerai Ke Ga Bay’s beachfront pool. Meanwhile, Le Ha Truc appeared on Azerai La Residence, Hue’s elegant 17-meter riverboat, as it plied the Perfume River at dusk. Meanwhile, Ha Anh Vu snapped a shot on the Mekong Delta cruise boat of Azerai Can Tho. To top it off, the famous Can Tho Bridge was in the background.
Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh
One quick scroll through the Instagram hashtag of #HyattRegencyPhnomPenh, results in beautiful photos of the Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh. This new hotel, which just opened in January, offers many places for Instagram photo backgrounds. However, the top spot is the Hyatt Regency Phnom Penh’s revamped Colonial House entrance.
This hotel was originally a secret villa built for a princess in the early 20th century, It has lemon-colored walls, wooden shutters, and arched doorways. There’s also a roof made of terra-cotta tiles, which makes a nice background. SOVRIN Magazine, Cambodia’s top fashion magazine, recently organized a photo shoot here. It quickly became a popular selfie spot after that.
The shoot featured Cambodian actress and model San Kosamak posing in a trenchcoat in front of Colonial House. This feature soon spawned a number of copycat photos on Instagram.
