Hotel Video: Five Shots Every Property Needs

Every hotel needs five shot families: the arrival, the room, the signature space, the table or bar, and the human moment. Get those right and you have the base for your website hero, your Google profile, your reels and your booking pages. Then plan the year in seasons, so each shoot has a purpose, and brief creator stays properly so disclosure and usage rights are never in doubt. This guide covers each of these in order.

The five shot families

1. The arrival

A guest decides in the first few minutes whether they are in the right place. Film the approach, the entry and the lobby as a single sequence.

• Exterior at the best light of the day, with the sign and entrance clean.
• The door opening, a bag being lifted, a key card or a phone check-in.
• A slow move through the lobby that shows the scale and the mood.
• The front desk, with a staff member who has agreed in writing to be on camera.

2. The room

Rooms sell the night. Shoot a representative room of each type, and make the bed the hero.

• Wide from the door, wide from the window side, and one angle from the bed toward the view.
• Morning light on the bed, a window opening, curtains moving.
• Bathroom: shower, vanity, tub if you have one, amenities.
• Details: the desk, the minibar, the robe, the lamp. Pick three and keep them consistent across room types.

Shoot rooms when they are vacant and made up. Fix lighting problems before the crew arrives: bulbs matched, screens off, cables hidden.

3. The signature space

Every property has one place guests mention afterwards: the pool, a rooftop, a courtyard, a restaurant dining room, a spa, the lobby bar. Spend the most time here.

• A wide establishing shot at the time of day the space is best.
• Movement: water, flames, a curtain, a pour, a door opening.
• Close details that show material and craft.
• A shot with people using it, filmed with permission.

4. The table or the bar

Food and drink do a lot of selling, even for hotels that are not known for dining.

• Breakfast service, a coffee pour, a cocktail being made, a room service tray arriving.
• Overhead and three-quarter angles for hero items.
• Action beats such as pouring, slicing, torching, garnishing.

See our restaurant video plan for the shot list we use for plates and drinks.

5. The human moment

The last family is the one that makes the others feel real. It is also the one most often skipped.

• A guest, or a model standing in for one, doing a small thing: reading in a chair, walking to the pool, laughing at a table.
• Staff at work: housekeeping, the concierge, the bartender, in short unscripted moments.
• Departure: a bag in a car, a last look back.

Use releases for everyone who appears. Use staff who volunteer, and keep guests out of frame unless they have agreed.

Delivering the footage

• A 30 to 60 second hero film for the website, plus a muted looping clip of 10 to 20 seconds for the top of the page. Compress it so the page still loads quickly.
• Vertical cuts of 15 to 30 seconds for Reels and TikTok, with captions.
• A clip of 30 seconds or less for Google Business Profile. Google's help page lists up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB and 720p or higher.
• Individual clips for room pages, the spa page and event pages.
• A stills set from the same day, so the video and photo look matches.

For brand film structure, see our guide to brand video production in Los Angeles.

Plan the year in seasons

A hotel has natural content moments. Our general approach, not a forecast:

Book each shoot at least a few weeks before you need the content live, because the season is the sales window and not the shooting window. Shoot summer content in late spring and holiday content in the fall.

Creator stays: how to brief them

A creator stay is a free or discounted visit in exchange for content. It can work well, but it needs a written brief.

1. 1Choose creators whose audience fits the property. Look at their past videos, not their follower count. Our guide to influencer marketing in Los Angeles explains how to evaluate them.
2. 2Agree deliverables in writing. How many posts, which formats, what dates, what the property wants to see, and what is off limits.
3. 3Require disclosure. The FTC says a creator must disclose a material connection such as a free stay, and the disclosure should be in the video itself, not only in the caption. On Instagram, use the paid partnership label tool where it applies.
4. 4Settle usage rights. Can you repost the content? On which channels, for how long, and in ads? Ask for it in the agreement, and say whether you can edit it.
5. 5Set privacy rules. No filming other guests, no filming staff without consent, no drone use unless approved in advance, and no showing room numbers or guest information.
6. 6Offer a shot list, not a script. Give the five families above and let the creator find their own angle.
7. 7Review before posting if the brief says so. Review for accuracy, not for taste.

What affects the production quote

The number of room types and spaces, the number of shoot days or time-of-day setups, whether you want a drone, talent and staging, how many cuts and formats, and how long you want to use the footage. We do not publish prices in articles.

Want a person to help?

If you are planning a property shoot or a creator program, we can build the shot list around your spaces and seasons, then produce and edit the content. See our video production service, the page for hotel and hospitality, or contact us and a real person will reply.