We all know the usual way to investigate hotels.
You google the name and search around trying to find reviews from other users.
Among the top platforms used to find hotels; there are Google Maps and Trip Advisor.
But what if you could actually have a mini-tour of the hotel while watching a video on TikTok?
One day, I was scrolling on my home page on TikTok, and I found an account called A Pretty Cool Hotel.
I got lost among the tens of videos regarding the hotels.
They give credit to the title: they are really cool.
It is a whole tour.
Surprised by what I have seen on the video platform, I googled A Pretty Cool Hotel, and I got lost down the rabbit hole of the story behind it.
I found out that the whole project was born from the minds of Margaret Bienert and Corey, a married couple from Pasadena, California.
The Pasadena woman is a photographer who specialized in communication, while her husband used to study filmmaking.
No wonder why their accounts are so appealing and well planned.
They feature many Californian hotels, such as the Castlewood Cottages in Big Bear Lake and the Madonna Inn located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles in San Luis Obispo.
How it started.
Back in 2018, they found out that there was a category for hotels called themed hotels.
And so they decided to start documenting their trips.
A few months later, they have created an account on Instagram (@aprettycoolhotel), which right now counts with a solid fan base of 205,000 followers.
On Tiktok, they are about to hit half-million followers and 10 million likes.
Those are a lot of themed hotel fans.
Margaret, who is also a photographer, in an interview with Sixty Six declared:
You know when you see something incredible, and you want to immediately pull your camera out and film it? Like a sunset or a magic trick or a concert? That’s what I felt like seeing these rooms for the first time,” and then she continued: “I like the fact that these hotels invite you out of your day-to-day mindset. The designs force you to feel something, whether that’s shock, joy, or curiosity. I just appreciate the gut reaction they bring.
The idea of creating a channel on TikTok was born.
We knew we wanted to do something different.
they said upon the refreshing idea of their social media niche.
And after thinking about how to plan it, the idea of a themed hotel channel hit them like a brick.
The couple decided to build an account whilst they were visiting one of the states.
They have had the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful hotels around the United States.
And they update the list every other day.
Among the most popular hotels, the one that has a bathtub shaped like a champagne glass, with almost 12 million views, a haunted hotel located in a castle, and the Adventure Suites theme hotel with a bed shaped like a shell.
Of this last one, the shell actually closes on itself.
Is it kitsch?
Yes.
Do we love it?
Absolutely yes!
Mainstream? No, thank you.
But if you are expecting to find mainstream hotels, you are on the wrong channel.
Margaret and Corey love to portray places outdated, old, and possibly with websites that have seen an update back in the days.
Indeed their photos and videos seem taken out from some nostalgic era like the Eighties.
A bathtub lover.
Margaret is a fan of bathtubs, and it has become one of the main spots of their reportages.
A small tip to the public: bathtubs are usually dirty if you stay in a hotel as they are not cleaned regularly.
But Margaret and Corey know it very well, and they always deterge the bathtubs before soaking themselves in.
Their Instagram account is filled with pictures of hotels they visit.
And bathrooms that look like something out of a fairytale.
Bathtubs are shaped like a fountain of a castle, sea caves, or a volcano.
But Margaret and Corey's favorites are definitely the ones shaped like a champagne glass and a heart.