Tattoos Are the Ultimate Travel Souvenir

At first, I couldn’t find the entrance to Untitled at 3 Freeman Alley, a boutique hotel tucked in Manhattan’s buzzing Lower East Side. I circled the block looking for its famed graffiti-lined passageway—the one Liv Novotny, owner of Unscripted Ink, the tattoo parlor on the hotel’s ground floor, describes as a place that “looks like the walls themselves are tattooed.”

Maximalist and bright, the alley revealed itself all at once. I passed a spray-painted relic from my childhood—Luigi of Super Mario—before stepping inside the hotel, where warm wooden accents, lush green plants, and mural-covered walls echoed the visual energy outside. Check-in was effortless, leaving me free to explore: first, the most delightfully unserious elevator I’ve ever encountered, plastered in stickers from floor to ceiling; and then, the tattoo studio itself.

In early 2024, Unscripted Ink became New York City’s first permanent, in-hotel tattoo parlor, ushering in a trend that has since gained momentum. Known as “tattourism,” the practice of getting tattooed to commemorate a destination or experience is reshaping how travelers collect souvenirs—and hotels are beginning to meet the demand by integrating ink directly into the stay.

Novotny, who has been tattooing for seven years, began a partnership with Untitled organically, hosting pop-up sessions during lobby events featuring live music and art. “Tattoos were always such a hit in that atmosphere. People loved the energy of getting tattooed while surrounded by music and art; it felt like a true New York experience,” Novotny told Travel + Leisure. “So when the hotel approached me about opening a shop in their space, it felt like a natural next step to create a place where tattoos and hospitality could coexist in a fresh, modern way.”

Across town, Dream Downtown, by Hyatt, a boutique hotel in the Meatpacking District, launched a partnership in May 2024 with renowned celebrity tattoo artist Jonathan “JonBoy” Valena. His appointment-only studio, open to both guests and the public, sits just off the hotel’s main lobby, offering highly personalized tattoos starting at $1,000.

Valena, whose work includes Kim Kardashian’s now-iconic lip tattoo commemorating her Saturday Night Live hosting debut, became a fixture at Dream Downtown’s Electric Room basement bar while working nearby at the now-closed Gunbar tattoo shop. “The hotel has always had this creative, expressive energy that mirrors how I approach tattooing, and the Meatpacking District is one of New York City’s most dynamic neighborhoods. Bold, stylish, and constantly evolving—there’s a pulse here that you can feel,” Valena told T+L. “People come to this area to express themselves, to stand out—and that’s exactly what I want to give them in the studio: a space to tell their story through ink.”

Both artists say they’ve seen tattourism surge firsthand. Novotny notes that more travelers now build tattoo appointments directly into their itineraries. “It’s such a personal way to commemorate their time in New York,” they said.

And the trend isn’t limited to New York. Along Mexico’s Pacific Coast, the W Punta de Mita in Riviera Nayarit has partnered with tattoo artist Azü Ibarra, offering guests the chance to permanently ink local artistry onto their skin. Specializing in full-color tattoos, Ibarra transforms beachfront inspiration into lasting mementos. In Iceland, Hotel Rangá offers a similar experience in 2025 through a partnership with Jana Tomanová, allowing guests to book personalized tattoos. Designed to support local artists while giving travelers creative control over how they commemorate their time in the land of fire and ice.

Yarmina Peralta-Liquet, a New York City resident, got a stamp-style tattoo featuring a traditional Mexican doll during a recent trip to Mexico City at Estudio184 in the Roma neighborhood. She told T+L that getting a tattoo on vacation “felt very right.”

“My tattoo is a special reminder of fulfilling a dream trip. I love Mexico, the people, the food, the beauty of everyday life there,” Peralta-Liquet said of her first travel tattoo. “Now, this tattoo makes me feel connected to all of that and it’s a reminder of my trip, which was also my husband’s first time in the country.”

Alessandra Amodio, a T+L digital photo editor, is not stranger to gathering ink while traveling, with 10 tattoos from past adventures. “I don’t just want my travel-inspired tattoos to just be a pretty piece of art, I want to see it and instantly remember where I was and why I wanted it in the first place,” Amodio said. “When you get the chance to travel to places you connect so deeply with it can feel like you’re taking parts of that place with you and leaving a piece of yourself there. I love (when I’m able) to get tattoos in those destinations so that I can have a small little slice of them on and with me forever.”

That lasting sense of connection is exactly what makes travel tattoos so meaningful for some. “A tattoo becomes the ultimate souvenir, something permanent that captures the memory of their trip long after it’s over,” Valena said.