Hotel promo video for booking sites 2026
A hotel promo video for booking sites has one real job: turn a guest who found you on Booking.com into a guest who books directly with you. It does not need to be an expensive brand film. One well planned shoot day gives you a short clip for your Google profile, a vertical video for Expedia, a handful of Reels and a full set of photos for Booking.com. Below you will find the exact rules each platform sets, a one day shot list for a small hotel or guesthouse, and the reason an empty room set to stock music sells nothing.
Key takeaways
- Booking.com's partner tools work with photos (up to 50 MB each, a maximum of 299 per property), not video. Your footage belongs on your own website, your Google profile and social media, where guests book without commission.
- Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo accept one video per property: vertical 9:16, ideally 10 to 30 seconds, 40 seconds at most, no music, no text with prices.
- A Google Business Profile accepts video up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB and at least 720p.
- A controlled test by VFM Interactive and Omni Hotels with almost 130,000 website visitors found that people who watched hotel video or a virtual tour were 67% more likely to book.
- Shoot twice a year, in season and out of it. Nobody booking an October weekend wants to see a pool that is closed.
Booking.com, Expedia and Google: where a hotel video actually goes
Video goes where a guest can book without paying a middleman, which means your own website and your Google profile, plus Expedia, the one big booking site that supports property video directly. Booking.com does not offer it in its standard partner tools. Its developer documentation for property content covers photos only: at least 300 × 300 pixels, no more than 50 MB per file and up to 299 photos per property. That is not bad news. It means the same shoot day produces your Booking.com photos, and the video goes to the channels that bring direct bookings.
For Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo the hotel video guidelines are stricter than most owners expect. One video per property, vertical 9:16, at least 1080 × 1920 at 30 frames per second, .mp4 or .mov up to 500 MB. No music, no voiceover, no transitions, no text showing prices or discounts. At least 70% of the running time must show the property itself, with nearby attractions capped at 30%. And one rule people miss: AI generated footage and slideshows made from still photos are both banned. It has to be real, captured video.
Your Google Business Profile is simpler: up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB, at least 720p. It matters more than it looks. A guest who spots you on Booking.com very often googles your name next, checks the map and the reviews. If they find a living, breathing clip of your breakfast room and a link to your own booking page, there is a real chance the booking goes to you instead of the platform.
Why an empty room and stock music do not sell a hotel
Because it looks like every other room on every other listing. White bed, two pillows, a window, a slow camera glide. Nobody remembers that shot, and it gives no reason to choose you. What guests remember is the view from that particular bed at seven in the morning, the sound of the stream under the terrace, or the homemade cake on the breakfast table that the owner bakes every morning.
The numbers point the same way. The VFM Interactive and Omni Hotels test is old, run in 2007 and 2008 and paid for by a video vendor, so treat it with some caution. Still, its design was solid: website visitors were split at random into a group that saw video and tours and a control group that did not. Video viewers' increase in conversion was 2.9 times that of people who only saw a virtual tour. That matches what we see on set. Video answers the one question a photo cannot: what it feels like to be there.
A one day hotel video shot list for small hotels and guesthouses
One day is enough if you plan it around the light, not around the rooms. This is the shot list we use for accommodation shoots. Adapt it to your property, but keep the order the sun dictates.
- Sunrise, 6:30 to 8:00: exterior and view. The building in soft morning light, mist over the valley, the first shot out of a room window. If you have a permit, this is also the moment for drone footage that shows where you are: next to the mountains, the lake or the old town.
- Breakfast, 8:00 to 9:30: people and food. Coffee being poured, hands slicing bread, a full table. Film your staff or guests who have signed a release. For a guesthouse, breakfast is often the strongest selling point, so show it properly.
- Late morning, 10:00 to 13:00: rooms. Every room type on its own, beds made, no personal items in sight. Three shots per room: a wide from the door, the bed with the window, and one detail that sets you apart (an old wooden beam, a bathtub with a view, a balcony).
- Afternoon: shared spaces and services. Spa, terrace, reception, kids' corner, parking. Guests arriving by car want to see where they will park, even if it is not glamorous.
- Golden hour: the surroundings. The hiking trail behind the house, the vineyard, the square ten minutes away. Expedia allows the area no more than 30% of the clip, but on your website and Reels you can give it more room.
- Evening: atmosphere. Lit windows from outside, the fireplace, a glass of wine on the terrace. These are the shots that win weekend bookings.
A day like this typically yields a 30 second Google profile clip, a vertical Expedia video, 6 to 10 short social videos and 40 to 80 photos for Booking.com. We break down how to get the most out of one shoot in how many videos you can get from one shoot, and the formats each network wants are in our guide to video formats for social media.
In season and off season: when to film your hotel promo video
Ideally twice a year: spring or summer, and then winter. A mountain guesthouse sells snow and the sauna in January and hiking and the terrace in July. If your profile only shows summer, a guest looking for a winter weekend has no reason to come. The second shoot can be shorter. Half a day for exteriors and seasonal moments is plenty, since the rooms do not change in between.
It also fits how people book now. Many weekend stays are decided quickly, on a phone, a week or two ahead. A vertical clip that shows what your place looks like this month, fog, fireplace and all, is exactly what that guest scrolls past or stops for.
What a hotel video costs and when to film it yourself
A professional shoot day costs roughly €1,500 to €2,000, and editing all the outputs another €1,000 to €2,000. The full breakdown is in how much a corporate video costs. For a six room guesthouse that is real money, so let us be honest: not everyone needs it right away.
If you sell almost entirely through Booking.com and have no booking engine on your own website, a video will not bring many direct bookings yet, because the guest has nowhere to click. Fix the website and the booking button first, then invest in video. Short Reels of breakfast or the sunset you can shoot yourself on a phone, as long as you hold it upright, stand by the window and stay away from the zoom. A professional crew makes sense when you open, renovate, go after a new type of guest, or want a video that will hold up on your website and in ads for two years.
In this video James Bottomley shows how to film interiors so a space feels natural rather than like a property ad. Camera movement, shot height and working with window light are the same whether you are filming an apartment or a hotel room.
If you want to plan a shoot day that gives you video and photos for the whole year, have a look at how we approach video production, or simply tell us where your guests have the best breakfast. We arrive at sunrise and hand the rooms back tidy by lunch.
Hotel video FAQ
Why did Expedia reject my property video?
Usually because of music, text showing a price or a discount, a horizontal instead of a 9:16 format, or because the clip is a slideshow of photos rather than real footage. Check the length too: 10 to 30 seconds is recommended and anything over 40 seconds will not pass.
Can I upload a video directly to Booking.com?
Booking.com's standard partner tools work with photos, not video. Put your video on your own website, Google profile and social channels, and pull high quality stills of up to 50 MB from the shoot for your Booking.com listing.
Can I show real guests in my hotel video?
Only identifiable guests who have given written consent. Expedia also does not want people to be the main subject and bans anyone under 18, so film with staff, family or friends and keep guests turned away or out of focus.
