Portfolio of Hotel Essence Photography from around the world

This website is dedicated to capturing the very best of luxury hotels and resorts. Professional Hotel Photographer Michelle Chaplow and her crew specialise in photographing luxury hotel properties and resorts worldwide. We cover architectural photography, exteriors, interiors, environmental portraits of hotel staff, experiences, excursions, geo-identifiers (the small things that remind guests exactly where they are in the world). With lighting specialists, art directors, journalists, digital editors and stylists, the Essence team are in a unique position to manage luxury hotel photography commissions around the globe.

Our top priority is to capture the essence of your establishment Michelle Chaplow and her team are passionate about travel and the hotel industry: "My aim is to capture the personality of a hotel in such a way that the viewer feels compelled to say, “Take me there!” (Michelle Chaplow)

The mission of Hotel Essence Photography is to go beyond capturing the bedrooms and communal zones of the property. The aim is to capture the very essence of the hotel. The things you remember when you return home, the details that make you feel happy at the time: scented flowers by the bath, pillow gifts, cultural influences, tea on the terrace, a smiling face to greet you each morning. The essence of a hotel is in the detail. It’s the detail that portrays the feeling, the soul, the heart and the very essence of the hotel. The things that will make your hotel stand out from the rest.

Travel – is it the journey, the destination and the hotel? Or could it be the hotel, the destination and then the journey? Whichever way you look at it, the hotel is a fundamental requisite of travel. And a superb hotel will indeed entice the traveller to a particular destination.

In this modern day world, where our visual skills are improving on a daily basis as we constantly "read" and interpret the everyday imagery around us - albeit on a mobile phone, tablet, TV or in a glossy magazine - quality photography of a hotel or resort is an essential tool for online and print promotion. To make a hotel stand out, quality photography is both an essential requisite and a sound investment.

The five star world of Luxury hotels these days isn't just about the facilities – nearly all have free WIFI, plasma TVs, pools, gyms and spas; those are a given. They’re all about the guest experience. Guests are probably more interested a hotel’s personal approach, how it is more enticing and individual than other establishments. That’s where Hotel Essence comes in. In our superb, beautifully-shot photographs, you can see the infinite care taken by staff to make guests feel special, welcome, relaxed and at home, the extra effort taken, the exciting activities and excursions offered - why this is the hotel they must book. For it is, quite simply, unmissable. That’s the power of first-class hotel photography.

We create photography that you will be proud to use thoughout your digital, print and social media channels. Photography is the window to your world before arrival and the memory and dreams that guests take with them upon departure.