The 5 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Luxury Hotel’s Instagram Marketing, Today
"Be the most thoughtful, inspiring “concierge” on Instagram! Posed website photos and your property’s spaces are easy to post—but they won’t drive real engagement. With new, carefully planned visuals with a feminine feel, your luxury hotel can connect with the guests you’re trying to reach." – Jean Coelho
Instagram marketing is about capturing experiences that set your hotel apart. Guests crave moments that feel personal, inviting, and shareable—images that show what it truly feels like to stay at your property. That’s why we don’t just reuse website launch imagery or posed shots; we look for the experiences that are different from any other luxury hotel.
We begin by creating a clear Instagram goal list and mapping out a seasonal campaign plan. From there, we craft a streamlined style guide detailing photographic direction, brand aesthetic, and props to bring each story to life.
During our visit to the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, we were captivated by the kindness, breathtaking views, and hidden nooks bathed in natural light, where the sounds of hospitality drifted from the kitchen. These are the moments that need to be highlighted, captured, and shared—stories that inspire, engage, and invite followers to experience the property for themselves so they can start dreaming and planning their next stay with you.
Audit Your Current Instagram Feed
We are starting with the most missed step! A simple audit and goal-setting session.
Even the most luxurious hotels often rely on high-end, website-style, or wedding imagery that wasn’t created for Instagram or by an Instagram photographer.
These images look stunning, but they may not engage followers or reflect seasonal experiences.
Start by asking:
Are your current images optimized for Instagram campaigns, or are they mostly posed website or wedding shots?
Are seasonal activities, events, or curated experiences that feel like stories missing?
Does your feed capture authentic, lifestyle-driven moments your guests crave?
Look for opportunities to showcase guest-centered experiences—such as morning rituals, curated meals, wellness moments, and outdoor adventures—capturing the unique experiences that make your property special throughout the year.
Action today: Schedule a free visual marketing audit to uncover gaps and prioritize creating imagery specifically for Instagram campaigns and seasonal storytelling.
Focus on Guest-Centered, Lifestyle Imagery
Luxury hospitality is about the guest experience, not just rooms. Guests want moments that inspire, refresh, and emotionally connect.
Capture morning rituals, spa treatments, or coastal terraces at sunrise and sunset.
Highlight culinary experiences, including allergy-friendly and gluten-free options, in a way that creates a feeling that the viewers want to experience in real life, such as including natural light coming through the windows onto the table, along with palm shadows reflected onto chairs and floors. As someone who cannot tolerate wheat-containing foods, I can say with confidence that not many hotels pay this level of attention to detail. Many people have celiac disease, dairy allergies, and a range of other restrictions, but finding hotels that cater to this is hard to find highlighted online. Doing this with images on Instagram is the first place I would start!
Showcase small touches and amenities that make guests feel pampered, like curated welcome gifts or concierge moments. The Ritz-Carlton is known for this! They take custom gift requests up to 3 months in advance of a guest’s stay and flex their motto: Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen–with this chef’s kiss.
Action today: Contact us and let us guide you to the visual marketing content YOUR HOTEL should create first. We happily plan and capture real guest experiences for Instagram marketing campaigns that go beyond your property’s empty lobby or ballroom.
Bring a Feminine Perspective
Many hotel photographers focus on perfectly balanced architecture or wide-angle shots, missing the emotional moments that guests truly engage with.
Highlight subtle luxury details like fresh flowers, room service favorites, or pampering touches and requests for an elevated stay.
Capture female-focused lifestyle moments, connecting with the high-end female traveler on an emotional level.
Create shareable content optimized for Instagram posts and Reels.
Action today: Tell us what events for women are on your calendar, and we can create a shot list for guest-centered lifestyle photos that elevate the stories your luxury hotel needs to tell to sell out these events.
Plan Seasonal Content That Is Relevant
This is the one area that I see luxury hotels miss out on because they don’t take the time to create seasonal image libraries created specifically for Instagram marketing.
If you stick with the four seasons in nature, you only need to create four image libraries! If you want to use the holiday seasons such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Mother's or Father’s Day, you can plan image libraries around each theme.
Showcase summer terraces, fall lounges, and winter dining setups. To use The Ritz Carlton again, they could have an image library created for things like girlfriend getaways, Nutcracker afternoon tea, Gingerbread House displays, Easter brunches, Passover dinners, and family-friendly events.
In addition to its world-class accommodations and amenities, The Ritz-Carlton offers experiences designed specifically for women — from girlfriend getaways to events like the Women Who Lead Luncheon and Women’s Power Breakfasts. These thoughtfully curated experiences allow female guests to connect, recharge, and celebrate achievement, whether through spa indulgence, curated cocktails, or intimate networking opportunities. By highlighting these moments through lifestyle-driven imagery and storytelling on Instagram and the website, the hotel can continue to engage its high-end female audience, showing that luxury is as much about emotional connection and personal renewal as it is about elegant spaces.
Rotate amenities, wellness activities, and dining experiences to reflect each season.
Plan content that aligns with holidays, local events, and travel trends.
Action today: Click here for your complimentary seasonal Instagram audit for 2026 Instagram Marketing to guide photoshoots and posts that give you momentum for more bookings during the memory-making seasons the year has to offer!
How To Create Instagram Posts That Make People Share, Comment, & Book
Images alone aren’t enough — they must inspire engagement and bookings. Relationship marketing is your ticket to brand loyalty!
Pair lifestyle photography with thoughtful captions, calls to action, and hashtags.
Use Instagram Stories and Reels to highlight amenities, behind-the-scenes moments, and guest experiences.
Track engagement metrics to refine content strategy over time. Instagram has a treasure trove of conversion metrics, aka what is performing best, and where it’s performing best. Think Reels, Stories, Carousels, and static images in your feed…which are all put in order of best to worst results!
Action today: Integrate on-brand Instagram-ready images into campaigns designed to increase follower interaction and website clicks. Schedule a discovery call here.
The Bottom Line
Luxury hotel Instagram marketing is about showing the moments guests truly care about, not just polished rooms.
By auditing your feed, capturing guest-centered imagery, bringing a feminine perspective, planning seasonal content, and optimizing for engagement, your hotel can connect emotionally with followers and inspire bookings immediately.
Start with a free visual marketing audit to uncover the missing pieces in your Instagram strategy and create a library of content that reflects the luxury, sophistication, and experiences your guests crave.
“OUR CLIENT ATTRACTION SECRET: We use lifestyle images in Reels with trending or on-brand music over static imagery and to ensure your followers will 100 percent look forward to bingeing your mini-movies!” Already have amazing images? Have your communications team create an Instagram marketing campaign for the next 3 months. This will give you high-converting stories that make connections and create excitement for your viewers’ next visit.
