Boston Globe
December 27, 2018
They’re popping up everywhere: Hotels whose bread and butter is eye candy.
Whether you’re a Gen Y Instagram Influencer with 100k followers, a teen who lives to live-story, or a dad holding up an iPad camera to capture the #familyvacation, when it comes to traveling in 2019, everyone wants that perfect shot.
If you’re looking to #GramYourStay — and admit it, who isn’t — we’ve rounded up some of the most eye-catching, gram-worthy inns in New England. Grab your phone.
The Hotel Salem is bewitching — eye-popping color in “Mad Men”-chic decor in the heart of downtown Salem. Each guest room is gram-worthy, bursting with color like a box of Crayola Bold markers. The on-site diner, Counter, feels like an old-school ’60s lunch counter. Give in to the urge to gram your scallops and pork belly with poached apple and shaved fennel. (#WinterComfortFood.) Then head downstairs to The Cellar for board games, TV, snacks, and brews. In warmer months, you’ll nab a stunning shot of downtown Salem from The Roof. #BirdsEyeView. 209 Essex St., Salem. 978-451-4950. www.thehotelsalem.com/@stayhotelsalem.
This is one of two Lark Hotels in Witch City, along with the equally Instagrammable The Merchant (148 Washington St., Salem. 978-745-8100 www.themerchantsalem.com). Lark Hotels — boutique hotels scattered mainly in New England — are all but built for Instagram. You can’t take a bad shot. With nearly 9,000 Instagram followers, @larkhotels encourages guests to post shots using the hashtag #onalark. Plus, there’s an Instagram Scavenger Hunt for each hotel. Complete the Instahunt to win prizes.
Shots pop off the screen at Gilded in Newport, R.I. With ultra-saturated candy colors — hyper-intense blues, pinks, and purples — and a playful take on Gilded Age rococo, Apple TV, and curated small-plate breakfast, this isn’t your parents’ Newport. 23 Brinley St, Newport, R.I. 401-619-7758. www.gildedhotel.com @gildedhotel.
#NoFilterNeeded at 250 Main, a luxe-modern boutique hotel in the former artists’ colony of Rockland, Maine. Rooms give off a simple, hip LA vibe — lots of reclaimed materials, hardwoods, clean whites and blues, glass walls and doors opening up to balconies with views of Rockland Harbor. It’s pet-friendly, so feel free to fill your feed with Fido. #DogsofInstagram. 250 Main St., Rockland, Maine. 207-594-5994. www.250mainhotel.com/@250mainhotel.
The Boston hotel scene is so hot right now, you might want to take a staycation. Two different but equally Insta-worthy hotels opened this year. Boasting the hashtag #ExactlyLikeNothingElse, The Row Hotel at Assembly Row in Somerville is a luxury hotel located on the site of a former Ford auto assembly plant (hence the name). It reflects the location with a sleek and bold look — think metal, glass, mirrors, 50 shades of grays and silvers — plus a stunner of a pool. Dine onsite at Reflections. Give in to the urge to Instagram their Uncommon Carrot Cake. #dessertbae 360 Foley St., Somerville. 617-628-1300. www.therowhotelboston.com/@therowboston
The Revolution Hotel opened its doors in Boston just weeks ago. With a website proclaiming “The Revolution will be Instagrammed,” this is the hub hotel for artists, freewheelers, and Gen X-and-unders. There’s a shot everywhere you turn. Site-specific sculpture and mural installations feature Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. Its coworking space/board game lounge Conspire boasts a bar top made from a fallen elm tree. The Revolution hits all seven trademark trends of the new generation of hotels built for the next generation of Insta-travelers: lots of reclaimed and recycled materials; use of exposed wood and steel; minimalistic room design; unique and/or site-specific art; old-school board games; bunk beds or triple/quad rooms (some sharing common bathrooms); vintage and/or playful vibes that tie in with the hotel’s specific location. This Boston hotel — the building itself a recycled YWCA — hits New Traveler Bingo. 40 Berkeley St. 617-848-9200. therevolutionhotel.com/@revolution_hotel
Ditto on The Dean Hotel’s Bingo card. With more than 14,000 followers, this Providence hotel itself is an Instagram influencer; its feed a tasteful gallery. A stunner with a distinct simplistic style, it’s the details that make the shots here — the plants, the bright red wall telephone, the worn hardwood floors, the simple chair sitting alone in a corner. Bring friends on campus for hearty food and conversation at North, the on-site restaurant. Then grab after-dinner drinks in the Magdalene Room. Bust a lung singing karaoke. And warning: You will want to post a pic of the neon “Fine” sign in the lobby. (Everyone does.) 122 Fountain St., Providence. 401-455-DEAN. thedeanhotel.com/ @thedeanhotel
Field Guide is #VermontVibes all day. This rustically hip, luxe lodge in the heart of Stowe, Vt., boasts woodland views, an outdoor hot tub, and nearby nature trails for those #ExploreVT shots. Stowe’s natural beauty aside, the hotel is #DesignGoals all day: wall-mounted papier-mache animal “heads,” antlers, fireplace, exposed beams, a tree stump by the bathtub, framed trail maps. Photo opp: brews by the fire. 433 Mountain Road, Stowe, Vt. 802-253-8088. www.fieldguidestowe.com
In terms of woodland-chic, you can’t ask for more than what Tourists offers. Set on the banks of the Hoosic River in North Adams, it feels like a spread on minimalism from Architectural Digest came alive — all wood grains, pure whites, and picture windows. The modern retreat sits near the Appalachian Trail, Mount Graylock, and contemporary art mecca Mass MoCA, and weaves all three aesthetics seamlessly. The Instagram feed, with some 11,300 followers, nails the vibe. Meals are photo-worthy and trail-hiking hearty. Breakfast on egg sandwiches made with potato focaccia. Snack on spelt porridge bread and cashew butter, perhaps while sitting in your window nook surrounded by a canopy of trees. It almost makes you want to put your phone away — almost. #Berkshires. 915 State Road, North Adams. 413-346-4933. www.touristswelcome.com/gallery @touristswelcome