A 5-star boutique hotel in Switzerland with a world-famous infinity pool no longer has to pay for advertising, thanks to Instagram

Katie WarrenSep 6, 2018, 20:06 IST

David Olkarny

A luxury hotel in Switzerland with a world-famous infinity pool no longer has to pay for advertising - thanks to Instagram.
Guests are obsessed with getting photos of the hotel's infinity pool, which has a stunning view of Lake Lucerne and the mountains.
Rooms at the hotel, Villa Honegg, cost between $500 and $12,000 a night.

A five-star hotel in the Swiss countryside has become so Instagram-famous that it doesn't even need to pay for advertising anymore.

Thanks to the popularity of its infinity pool on Instagram, Villa Honegg hasn't paid for advertising since 2011, according to Forbes.

"Social media is our advertising," general manager Sebastian Klink told Forbes. "We haven't had paid media since our renovation in 2011."

According to Klink, the hotel first blew up on social media when a Brazilian blogger posted a video on YouTube of the pool at night - and it went viral.

"When this video went live online we saw that emails were coming in from around the world," Klink told Forbes. He said that the spa was always popular, but the video prompted an influx of bookings from guests from Australia, the United States and Korea.

Many visitors come for only one night because they "really just want to take a picture with the pool," Klink said.

Here's a look at the mountain hotel and its famed infinity pool.

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A 5-star boutique hotel in Switzerland with a world-famous infinity pool no longer has to pay for advertising, thanks to Instagram

Villa Honegg is a 5-star, 23-room resort in Ennetbürgen, Switzerland.

It's perched high on the Bürgenstock mountain.

Visitors are greeted by a cozy fireplace and warm tones in the lobby.

The cost of a night's stay starts at about $500 for a suite in a separate annex, which is connected to the main hotel by underground garage.

This suite in the annex comes with a double bed and an additional sofa bed in the living area.

Guests have access to free Wi-Fi, a Nespresso coffee machine, and an à la carte breakfast.

The next tier consists of the 'classic rooms' in the main hotel, which start at about $600 per night.

They feature king-sized beds, Hermès toiletries, and a balcony.

The suites start at $905 a night...

...and come with a balcony overlooking the mountains or a terrace overlooking the lake.

The cost of staying in a master suite starts at $2,460.

The hotel's most expensive option is to book an entire private floor for more than $12,000, which includes a master suite, a junior suite, a 'superior room' with a lake view, and two classic rooms.

The hotel's famous infinity pool overlooks Lake Lucerne, which resembles a fjord landscape but has a mild lake climate.

It's not difficult to see why so many find the view to be Instagram-worthy.

Lounge chairs near the infinity pool face the panoramic vista.

There's also an indoor pool with lounge chairs, panoramic windows, and a counter-current swimming system.

In the spa, guests can get different types of massages, facials, body peels, body waxing, and manicures and pedicures.

The hotel's restaurant was awarded 14 points out of 20 by the Gault-Millau restaurant guide, similar to the Michelin guide. The cuisine focuses on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients.

Guests can also choose to eat out on the terrace.

The villa is equally stunning in the wintertime.

And the heated infinity pool looks just as inviting.