Hotel photography is priced by the day: $1,500 to $3,000 for a capable interiors photographer in the US, $3,000 to $5,000 for hospitality specialists, and more for international names shooting luxury resorts. In the UK, day rates start around £650 and typically land at £850 to £1,200, with London and specialist work above that. In the eurozone, €900 to €1,800 a day is common.

A small boutique hotel with a handful of room types, a lobby and a bar is usually one full day, so $1,500 to $3,000 all in. A 100 room property with a restaurant, spa and pool is two to four days, plus twilight exteriors and lifestyle shots with models, which is where hotel budgets reach $8,000 to $20,000.

Should you charge per day or per room?

Per day, almost always. Hotels think in rooms, so some photographers quote from $200 a room type, but a suite with a view and a standard double take very different amounts of time to light and style. Per room pricing also leaves out the spaces that sell the hotel: the lobby, the bar, the breakfast table.

If a hotel insists on per room or per image pricing, build it from your day rate. Decide how many finished images a day you can produce, divide, and put a one day minimum under it.

How many hotel photos can you shoot in a day?

Fewer than a real estate shoot, because hotel images are styled, lit and shot to a brand standard, not to a listing deadline.

  • Guest rooms: two to four finished images per room type (a wide, a bed detail, a bathroom, a view). Allow 45 to 90 minutes per room including styling.
  • Public spaces (lobby, bar, restaurant, spa): one to two hours each, often timed to the light or to when the space is empty.
  • Exteriors: a daytime frame and a twilight frame, which costs you the evening.

A realistic day produces 15 to 25 finished images of lit interiors. Shooting with natural light and bracketed exposures, closer to 30 to 40. Say that number in the quote so the hotel can see how many days its shot list needs.

Hotels also cannot give you every room at once. Ask the revenue or front office manager to block the rooms on the shot list for the shoot day, or you will spend the morning waiting for housekeeping.

What does a hotel photography shot list include?

Agree the shot list in writing before quoting. A typical one:

  • Each room category, plus the best suite and an accessible room.
  • Bathrooms and one or two amenity details per category.
  • Lobby, reception, corridors only if they are striking.
  • Restaurant and bar, empty and with styled tables.
  • Food and drink, if the restaurant needs it. That is its own job: the food photography pricing guide covers per dish rates.
  • Spa, pool, gym, meeting rooms and event spaces.
  • Exteriors by day and at twilight, and aerials if you fly.

Anything with people in it is a lifestyle shoot: models, a stylist and a second day. Price it as one, with release forms for every model.

What extras should a hotel photography quote include?

These are billed as separate lines, each with a number:

  • Twilight exteriors: $300 to $600 (£200 to £400), because the shoot runs into the evening.
  • Lifestyle shoot with models: day rate plus model fees, usually $150 to $500 a model per day in most markets.
  • Interior stylist: $500 to $900 a day.
  • Drone: $250 to $600 if you are licensed and the location allows it.
  • Retouching beyond the standard pass: $40 to $150 an image for window pulls, sky replacement and composites.
  • Travel and accommodation: usually provided by the hotel. Ask for a room and meals for the nights of the shoot and put it in the estimate.

For a broader template for the structure, the commercial photography pricing guide walks through a full estimate with creative fee, licence and production.

What usage rights does a hotel need?

More than most clients, and more than they expect. A hotel's images end up on its own website, every booking site it lists on, paid social, travel agent brochures and press kits. Include all of that in the base licence for the hotel's own marketing, unlimited in term, in any territory. That is what the hotel is paying for, and limiting it reads as a trap.

Charge separately for use by other parties. The owner, the management company, the interior designer, the architect and the furniture brand will all ask for the images. Each is a separate business using your work for its own marketing, so each gets its own licence, typically 25 to 50 percent of the original fee. The usage rights guide has the clause wording and how to price these.

Write one more line into the contract: the hotel may share images with press for editorial coverage of the hotel, with credit. It is going to happen anyway.

How does hotel photography differ from Airbnb or real estate work?

Real estate is speed and volume: one visit, 25 to 40 images, delivered next day at $150 to $350 a listing, as the real estate pricing guide explains. Short lets sit between the two: a host needs styled images that sell a stay, but on a much smaller budget, which Airbnb photography covers.

Hotel work is slower and more expensive because the images are a brand asset, used for years across dozens of channels. Small independent hotels and B&Bs sit in the middle. Many will pay a half day at $800 to $1,200 (£450 to £700) and want a short shot list. Treat those as a step up from short lets, not a discount on a full hotel shoot.

Do hotels pay for seasonal reshoots?

Yes, and that is where the repeat work is. Hotels refurbish rooms, change restaurant menus and want seasonal images for winter and summer campaigns. Offer a half day each season at your rate, or an annual agreement for two to four shoot days.

Deliver in a PIN-protected gallery for the hotel, and give the owner or management company a separate guest PIN, with its own download setting, to review the set.

Before your next hotel enquiry, ask for three things: the shot list, the number of room types, and every party that will use the images. The day count and the licence come straight from those.