Oyster

Founded by Elie Seidman in 2008

Find and book hotels using professional in-person reviews and real photos

Cost

Free

Rating

★ People love it

Time to value

Immediate

You can use Oyster to find hotels based on professional reviews written by investigators who actually visit and photograph each property. Browse unedited photos, read honest assessments of rooms and amenities, and compare hotels across popular destinations. The site covers hotels worldwide and organizes them into collections like best beach hotels, pet-friendly hotels, and boutique hotels. You can also read travel stories and destination guides to help plan where to go and stay.

What Oyster does

Search hotels by destinationBrowse real, unedited hotel photosRead professional hotel reviewsCompare hotels across budget rangesExplore curated hotel collections by categorySubscribe to travel newsletter for destination tipsDiscover popular travel destinationsRead editorial travel stories for trip inspirationInvestigators physically visit and photograph each hotel before publishing reviewsUnedited, undoctored hotel photos showing real conditionsHotel collections organized by category like beach, pet-friendly, and boutiqueDestination travel guides with recommendations on where to go and stayComparison of hotels at different price points in the same destinationEditorial travel stories covering seasonal and themed travel topicsRatings and detailed assessments of rooms, amenities, and surroundings