Every Guestwise host gets a free professional photo shoot of their home, usually 20 to 30 photos taken by our team, once the first deep clean is done and the fresh linen is on the beds. Book your slot below, then use the checklist to get the home ready, because we photograph the home exactly as we find it on the day, and a return visit is charged at the full rate for your home's size.
Key takeaways
- The first shoot is free in every city we manage. A return visit, if the home isn't ready, is charged at the full re-shoot rate for the size of your home.
- If you upgrade the home later, we re-shoot it so the listing shows its true condition. Re-shoots are priced by size, from £150 to £330.
- Four things have to be done first: your belongings cleared or locked away, the deep clean, the linen, and the home staged.
- You get 20 to 30 landscape photos, edited, and placed on your listing by us.
- Airbnb's own figures show listings with professional photos earn 21% more and get 19% more bookings than listings without.
- If an estate agent's professional photos already exist and the home looks the same, we can use those and go live sooner.
- Guestwise keeps the copyright on the free photos. The full set is yours to buy for £99.
Why do the photos matter so much?
Because the photos are the listing. A guest scrolling on a phone decides from the cover photo whether to tap. Airbnb reports that listings with its professional photography earned 21% more and took 19% more bookings than listings without, comparing more than 14,700 listings with professional photos against more than 62,300 without over a year from 2024 to 2025. Airbnb adds that its own photographers take 2 to 3 images per room, according to its help centre.
A note on older figures: many guides still quote Airbnb saying professional photos earn 40% more and get 24% more bookings. Those numbers come from an older Airbnb analysis. The 21% and 19% figures are what Airbnb's current page shows, so this page uses those.
What do you get?
| Guestwise shoot | |
|---|---|
| Cost | Free for the first shoot. A return visit if the home isn't ready, or a re-shoot after you upgrade the home, is £150 to £330 by size |
| Photos | Usually 20 to 30, depending on the size of the home |
| Format | Landscape, the format Airbnb and Booking.com display |
| Who shoots | Our team, or your local manager's team outside Brighton |
| Editing | Done by us. Bright, true to the home, nothing misleading |
| Where they go | Straight onto your listing on every platform we use |
| Where available | Every city Guestwise manages |
| Copyright | Guestwise keeps the copyright, because the shoot is free. You can buy the full set for £99 |
We don't stage, furnish or style homes. Our property standards explain what a home needs before guests arrive, and the shoot shows the home as it is.
What has to happen before we can shoot?
The order matters. Photos taken before the deep clean show dust, smears and crumpled bedding that a guest will notice even if you don't. So the shoot is the last step before your home goes live, as our getting started guide sets out.
| Step | What it means | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fix list done | Repairs from your onboarding meeting finished, including anything on walls, ceilings and silicone | You |
| 2. Belongings cleared | Personal items gone or locked away. Nothing on worktops, bedside tables or bathroom shelves that isn't for guests | You |
| 3. First deep clean | Our cleaners do the first clean, charged to you, usually two cleaners and about double a normal clean | Guestwise |
| 4. Linen on the beds | Fresh laundered linen fitted and towels placed, so every bed is photographed guest-ready | Guestwise |
| 5. Home staged | Table laid, kitchen dressed, cushions and throws set, one welcome touch. See how to stage the home below | You |
| 6. Photo shoot | Our team photographs every room, the exterior and anything a guest would want to see | Guestwise |
If you book a slot and steps 1, 2 and 5 aren't done when we arrive, we can't shoot. That visit counts, and the return visit is charged at the full re-shoot rate for your home's size, from £150 to £330. Booking a week later costs nothing. A shoot that didn't happen costs £150 to £330.
How do you stage the home for the photos?
Staging means making every room look like a guest could walk in and start their holiday. It's not interior design, and you don't need to buy anything. These are the things our photographers ask for, because each one shows up in the pictures.
- Lay the table. Plates, glasses, cutlery and napkins set for the number of guests the home sleeps. A bowl of fruit or a jug in the middle. The dining shot sells family stays.
- Dress the kitchen. A chopping board, a coffee pot, two mugs by the kettle, a plant on the windowsill. Nothing else on the worktops.
- Make the living room look lived in, not left. Cushions plumped and squared, a folded throw over the arm of the sofa, a couple of books on the coffee table, the remote out of sight.
- Stack and fold the towels. Rolled or folded on the end of each bed and in the bathroom, hotel-style, in sets per guest.
- Add one welcome touch. A bottle of wine and two glasses on the counter, flowers on the table, or a welcome note on the bed. One is enough. Three looks staged.
- Every light on, every blind up. Daylight and lamps together. Dark corners read as small rooms.
- Beds made hotel-style. Hospital corners, pillows plumped, a folded throw if you have one.
- Worktops clear. Kettle and toaster can stay. Bills, chargers, cleaning sprays and washing-up liquid go in a cupboard.
- Bathrooms bare. Toilet lid down, shower screen dry, fresh towels only, no toiletries except what guests get.
- Bins, shoes, pet beds and laundry out of sight. They pull the eye away from the room.
- Cars off the drive and bins off the path for the exterior shot.
- Finish changes first. Airbnb tells its own hosts not to request a shoot until any changes to the space are done. The same applies here. A half-painted hallway means a re-shoot later.
Who owns the photos?
Guestwise does. The shoot is free because the photos are made for the listing we manage, so we keep the copyright and use them on your listing across every platform. If you'd like to own them outright, you can buy the full edited set for £99. That gives you the files to use anywhere: your own website, an estate agent, or another management company if you ever leave us. In short: free to list with, £99 to keep.
What if you change the home later?
Then the photos have to change too. A guest books what they see, and a listing showing the old kitchen, the old bathroom or furniture that's no longer there leads to complaints and refund claims on arrival. So if you redecorate, refit a room or replace furniture after the first shoot, we re-shoot the home so the listing reflects its true condition. The same rules apply: the room has to be finished, cleaned and dressed before we come.
How much is a re-shoot?
We price re-shoots by the size of the home, in line with what London property photographers charge, because a five-bedroom house takes three times as long to shoot and edit as a one-bedroom flat.
| Home | Guestwise re-shoot | Photos |
|---|---|---|
| Studio or 1 bedroom | £150 | 12 to 16 |
| 2 bedrooms | £180 | 16 to 22 |
| 3 bedrooms | £230 | 22 to 28 |
| 4 bedrooms | £280 | 28 to 35 |
| 5 bedrooms or more | £330 | 30 to 40 |
For comparison, Photo-Video London lists £180 for a studio to two-bed flat, £230 for a three-bed, £280 for four beds or more and £320 for a house with a garden. Houses and Properties lists Airbnb shoots in London at £271 for two bedrooms, £307 for three, £387 for four and £518 for five. Yasmeen Creative starts at £125 for a studio or one-bedroom home. Our photo counts follow the same pattern as Photo-Video London's.
A return visit because the home wasn't ready on the day is charged at the same rate. The travel and the time on site are the same whether we shoot or turn around at the door.
What happens on the day?
Our photographer arrives at the booked time, usually in daylight, and works through the home room by room. You don't need to be there if we already have lockbox access. Within about a week, the edited photos are on your listing, and the home is ready to go live.
Need to move the slot? Rebook through the same link as early as you can. A cancellation on the day, or a home that isn't ready, counts as a visit, so we charge the full re-shoot rate for the next one.
Not a Guestwise host yet? The 10pm call about a lost key, the boiler that dies on a Saturday with a family inside, the listing photos that need doing: a local team takes all of them off you, from 12% + VAT. See what your home could earn.
Frequently asked questions
Is the photo shoot free?
Yes, the first shoot is free for every Guestwise host, in every city we manage. If the home isn't ready on the day and we have to come back, the return visit is charged at the full re-shoot rate for the size of your home, from £150 to £330, because the travel and the time are the same.
What has to be done before the shoot?
The first deep clean has to be finished, the fresh linen has to be on the beds, your belongings have to be cleared or locked away, and any repairs on your fix list have to be done. We photograph the home as we find it.
How many photos will I get?
Usually 20 to 30 professional photos, shot in landscape, which is the format Airbnb and Booking.com display. Smaller homes get fewer, larger homes get more.
Who takes the photos?
Our team. In Brighton and Hove that's the Guestwise team. In other cities, the local manager from the Houst network who looks after your home arranges the shoot.
Can you use my estate agent's photos instead?
Yes, if a professional photographer took them and the home still looks the same. That lets your listing go live sooner. Phone photos don't meet the standard.
Do I need to be there?
No. If we already have access through your lockbox, we let ourselves in, shoot and lock up. If not, arrange access with your local manager when you book.
Do I need new photos if I redecorate or refit a room?
Yes. The listing has to show the home as it is, so after an upgrade we re-shoot it. Re-shoots are priced by size, from £150 for a studio or one-bedroom home to £330 for five bedrooms or more, and the room has to be finished, cleaned and dressed first.
Who owns the photos?
Guestwise does, because the shoot is free. The photos are for your listing while we manage your home. If you want to own them, for your own website, an estate agent or another platform, you can buy the full set for £99.
How long until the photos are on my listing?
We aim to have the edited photos on your listing within a week of the shoot, which is the same turnaround Airbnb quotes for its own programme.
Related guides
Sources
- Airbnb: Pro Photography Program (earnings and bookings comparison, 2024 to 2025)
- Airbnb Help Centre: Professional photography for listings
- Photo-Video London: property photography prices by property size
- Houses and Properties: cost of photographing 1, 2, 3, 4+ bedroom property in London
- Yasmeen Creative: property photography London
Airbnb's figures are its own global comparison and are not a promise of results for any one home. Shoot details are Guestwise's own terms and can change. Photo purchase terms: £99 buys the edited set from your shoot for your own use, delivered as digital files. Guestwise keeps the right to use the photos on your listing while we manage your home.