Is It Okay For Hotels To Photoshop Pictures?

Photoshopping hotel photos is as acceptable as publishing blog posts with affiliate links that aren’t clearly marked as such.

Interesting discussion. I was actually prepared to take the hotels' side, saying all industries manipulate photos/ads for marketing purposes. However, actual Photoshopping of a photo to remove actual features, surroundings, etc. is blatant false advertising. It's one thing to touch up a photo or strategically angle it to make it look as nice as possible, but removing or covering things to hide them is lying to the consumer. I'm interested how anyone could argue against that.

Photoshopping isnt acceptable. At some point someoner will claim misrepresentation and want compensation

And I thought I was the King of snark.

Believing pictures are accurate representations of the property is like visiting a website with thousands of free posts, believing it's all free and being indignant that the card links compensate the blogger.

We all know where to get raw pics of hotels and travellers' comments. They're readily available. So Yes, it's acceptable for hotels to post somewhat modified pics. I don't expect McDonalds to show a Whopper side by side with their Big Mac.

It's a corporation. It's not gonna love you back.

I'm really curious as to your definition of "photoshopping". Apparently bucket filling an area with solid green color constitutes photoshopping, but blurring it out does not?

If they are just removing a competing hotel from the picture, then I'm okay with that. It could also be misleading if there are two hotels in your picture, as it might not be extremely clear that the other hotel is not part of your hotel.

Just wait until you join Tinder.

I think blurring out adjacent properties is fine although that always make me search out what they are blurring…. Is it a super high rise that’s looking directly into main pool of the hotel I’m considering staying at? Or a low rise that doesn’t effect me in any shape or form. Taking away electricity poles that’s next to the main pool using photoshop is def a no no for me. One should always do extensive research because at the end of the day, you are best at protecting your hard earn money.

A different approach, as opposed to photoshop, would be to change the original image on Google Drawing and add a shape with text (not related to the hotel) on the IC side. It's very likely that the owners of these two hotels are at odds with one another.

Similarly, it’s also misleading when hotels fail to update photos after significant changes to the hotel or surrounding areas. Without naming names, one hotel uses pictures of a large beachfront in recurring social media posts, while the beach has actually eroded approximately 80%.

It's a sliding scale from making the property look nicer to outright false advertising. It really is dependent on each situation. Removing clutter from a beach to clean up how busy it looks probably isn't going to go past the bounds. Removing a structure to be able to claim unobstructed views as a selling point, that's false advertising.

They did more than bucket fill an area with green. They removed a massive resort to make it appear their hotel has no neighbors, which is false. Blurring something only makes the unwanted object, well, blurry.

Check any rendering for a pre-construction condo in Miami, and there's multiple misleading photoshop jobs done in the context (the best is the one that turns the FPL substation in downtown into a forest).

Heck, some developers even try and hide future phases/towers in the same project. I find this even more of an issue, as a condo purchase is much more money than a hotel stay. It's blatant lying and manipulation

Everyone seems focused on the outside renderings being photoshopped. A bigger problem for me is the room representation. And this can take the form of actual photoshopping but also just blatant misrepresentation of the actual product in that they show a large well appointed room in the advertising but an itty bitty dumpy broom closet actually awaits you upon check in.

Just like fake reviews, every single chain with a big enough budget photoshops or at least uses creative angles.
Hyatts are particularly bad at this.

Just look at traveler photos on tripadvisor instead of management ones.

If they're selling a view, and the view is not actually there, seems fraudulent. And I'm already too busy busting them over highly questionable fees!

No. It's false advertising. Would you be OK with Apple photoshopping their phones to look significantly different? Or Tesla photoshopping their cars? In the US, any time in a commercial there is something that is not exactly as it is in reality, you will notice at the bottom of the screen there is a disclaimer...even when it is so obviously not real for dramatic effect. No disclaimer on those hotel pics. There's a reason why this seems to happen more often in the EU and ME, and not in the US. It would be an easy lawsuit here.

Just like Tinder, the most you have to do is spend 1 night together.

If people are doing it on Tinder, how can they dare judge hotels for doing it. (Not even to the point of discussing whether it's ok or not)

Everybody does it.
Some call it lies, others call it exaggeration, protecting self-esteem, bending truth, or lawyers.

Naive Mantis.

Apple, Tesla, and every professional photo uses Photoshop.

Please file a lawsuit against them, they don't have disclaimers.

Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort should probably find someone a little more skilled at photoshopping. The photo might actually be more appealing WITH the Intercontinental off to the side instead of some strange green blob that looks completely out of place!

Oh Eskimo, stop being willfully ignorant with your false equivalency. Apple doesn't Photoshop in an additional camera, Tesla doesn't Photoshop in a new heads up display, or some other feature that is not even available. Photoshopping as production value is very different than photoshopping out a neighboring large property that greatly changes the utility of the product.

That photo is obviously suspect, I don’t see how it could dupe anyone. I Google Map every property, from satellite to street view.

Oh Mantis, stop being willfully naive with your false equivalency.
Le Meridien Al Aqah Resort did not add extra swimming pools either.

Your idea of production value is different to theirs.
Your idea of the utility is different to theirs.

Prove me wrong, please file a lawsuit against them.

Interesting question. I've stayed in a zillion AirBnBs and never thought to myself, "did they photoshop those pictures, because this looks nothing like what's in the listing." That's because reviewers WILL call the host out on that. I absolutely do not book listings where reviewers say the pictures are wrong; if the host is willing to fib with that, what else are they going to lie and misrepresent?

But with hotels, it seems that people tend not to criticize them too much for misleading pictures. For one thing, people book hotels on all sorts of platforms, not just the hotel's own website. So I get the impression that because they're not often criticized for it, hotels feel more free to photoshop.

A long time I ago I booked a hotel in Pattaya Beach, Thailand. The pictures showed a beachfront hotel across a quiet street from a gorgeous sandy beach. In hindsight the price was just too good for the pictures. Arriving late at night in a taxi we did not notice the surroundings. We arose early that first morning to watch the sun come up over the beach. We were stunned to find that we were 8-10 long blocks from the beach, the hotel was surrounded by power lines where the photos had shown palm trees. It was clean and had a decent restaurant and was probably priced correctly for its location. When we questioned the desk clerks, it merited a shrug of the shoulders, a coupon for a "free" massage and a giggly "mai pen rai"? (Never mind!) Have always done a lot more research since that happening!

My opinion on photoshopping any photo meant to be a “faithful” representation - be it a house, a room or a person - is that if the editing is of something that can easily be changed with just a little work, or will pass on its own - it’s ok.

Covering up a pimple or editing hair to look less messy - that’s all fine. Removing some trash from the ground or changing the light to look like sunset - that’s ok too. If there was a filter to make a messy bed look made, I surely would use that myself 😉

Editing a picture to look like something the real thing does not, cannot and will never look like - that’s misrepresentation or fraud - depending on how much money is at stake.

Remember similar stories. Hotels advertising beach front, photo shopped as beach front yet required a tuktuk to find the beach! Sawdika.

Put aside the indignation about photoshopping views etc. and focus on the promised facilities, attractions, and services glowingly described in the businesses advertising which are either non-existent, 'temporarily' closed, or scaled back to almost nothing.
All due to Covid you understand, and not in the least due to cost-cutting, or inability to recruit staff prepared to work for peanuts.
Time to name and shame these places, although most are thoroughly shameless unfortunately.

Stayed at a hotel in Southern California once. We knew it was located near a highway which was not a problem. A freight train line has been photo shopped out of the pictures. The freight train ran in between the highway and the hotel and ran at all hours of the night. It was terrible!

this is why I ALWAYS look at Trip Advisor and Google Maps most recent "Traveler Photos" as well as Youtube videos and other social media posts to accurately see hotels and what they're REALLY like. its annoying when hotels photoshop or purposefully lack in depth property description and only post "2 room pictures" and stuff, but hey what are ya gonna do lol. thats why peoples posts are always the best source

That's why checking reviews is important. Then you see what the hotel, rooms, lounge (if applicable), breakfast, etc really looks like. Everyone knows that the promotional material is made to look more than it is. Ever see the photos on a menu or for an apartment for sale?

While we are at it, had an amazing stay at the Intercontinental Fujairah earlier this year.

Tends to get a bit crowded around the UAE school breaks, but its a great option for an otherwise under-visited part of the UAE.

Marketing is all about accentuating the positive and minimizing the negative. Exuberant marketing staff can get carried away towards false advertising.

Wonder if the resort next door didn't give consent to appear in their photos, or if they just didn't want to ask. When trying to decide if someone's being devious, lazy, or incompetent, it's rarely the first.