Booking.com photo requirements, and why photos aren't showing

The checklist

Work down the list before you upload, and again if photos don't show.

1. Landscape, and big enough. At least 2048 × 1080 pixels, ideally 4000 × 3000, in landscape. A photo straight from any recent iPhone camera is well above the minimum.
2. A JPEG. Every Booking.com page we checked accepts JPEG. iPhones save HEIC by default, so export JPEGs first.
3. Not too heavy for the Extranet. Booking.com's Extranet FAQ says photos should be no larger than 1.3 MB. If an upload fails, export a smaller JPEG.
4. Enough photos. At least 10 for the property, at least four per room or unit and one of each bathroom and toilet; 24 or more for a condo hotel.
5. A main photo you chose. Set a preferred main photo; otherwise the first photo in the main gallery is used.
6. Room photos in the right room. Each room or unit type has its own gallery. Drag photos into it, or tick the room under Edit.
7. Tags. Tag photos ("living room", "restaurant") so they link to what guests search for.
8. Wait up to 48 hours. That is Booking.com's own figure for photo changes to appear.
9. Check your channel manager. If one manages your content, change photos there, not in the Extranet.

Size and format: Booking.com gives several numbers

Booking.com publishes photo numbers in three places, and they don't match. The partner help photo guidelines are the strictest; the Extranet FAQ and the Photo API (used by channel managers) set the technical limits.

A landscape JPEG of about 2048 to 4000 pixels on the long edge meets every row. The one that trips people up is the 1.3 MB figure: a full-size iPhone JPEG is often larger. If the Extranet won't take a photo, export a copy at around 2048 × 1536 and try again. Our free listing photo resizer saves JPEGs in your browser, and every platform's numbers are side by side in our photo size requirements guide.

How many photos, and which

• At least 10 photos for the property. Booking.com's content score lists "Upload at least 10 photos" as an action until you have.
• At least four per room or unit, plus at least one of the bathroom and toilet. The content score also asks you to add bathroom photos to all active rooms and a photo of the exterior.
• At least 24 if you run a condo hotel, covering every apartment type.
• The outside: the entrance and the facade in relation to the street.
• Shared spaces guests can use: lobby, restaurant, breakfast, pool, spa, gym, parking, meeting rooms.
• Up to 299 photos per property through the Photo API, but guests see at most 40 on the property page.

Booking.com also asks for photos taken from 3 to 5 feet high, from the room corners, with curtains open, lamps on, beds made and no laundry, cables, tissues or trash cans in view. How to do that with a phone is in our hotel, venue and restaurant photos guide.

The main photo, room types and tags

The main photo is the one guests see in Booking.com search results. If you don't set one, the first photo in the property-level gallery is used. To set it in the Extranet, click Property, then Photos, and drag the photo to the Preferred main photo spot, or select it, click Options and then Set as preferred main photo.

Smart ordering is on by default: Booking.com uses machine learning to order the main gallery. If you drag photos into your own order and it doesn't stick, turn smart ordering off under Main gallery.

Room types: each room or unit type has its own gallery, which has no main photo. Drag photos from the main gallery into a room gallery, or click Edit on a photo and tick the room it shows. Booking.com asks that room galleries only show facilities that room type actually has.

Tags: select a photo, click Options, then Edit or tag, and choose or create tags. Booking.com says tags help link your property to guest searches.

Is there a photo quality score?

Not as a number. Booking.com gives each property a content score (the property page score) out of 100%, and photos are part of it, but the photo items are yes or no actions: upload at least 10 photos, make sure all your photos are high quality, add bathroom photos to all active rooms, add or tag an exterior photo, and add or tag a pool photo if you have one. Booking.com doesn't publish how it decides a photo is high quality. Its photo guidelines list what to avoid:

• Grainy, pixelated, blurry or tilt-shift photos
• Over-processed photos, filters, strong contrast, oversaturation or excessive HDR
• Collages, watermarks or illustrations
• Skewed, tilted, stretched or distorted photos
• Black-and-white photos and extreme wide-angle or fisheye shots
• Photos mainly of contact details, or with personal information such as ID cards, bills or contracts (not allowed)
• Portraits, or photos where people are the main focus

Uploading in the Extranet and the Pulse app

Extranet: log in, click Property, select Photos and click Add photos. To add photos to a room, select the room or unit type and then Add photos.

Pulse app: log in, tap More, then Property details, choose the property, tap Photos, choose Photo Gallery or a room, and tap Add photo to take a photo or choose one from your phone. Tap the check icon on Android or Save on iOS.

Videos can't be added to the photo gallery. 360° photos have their own section under Main gallery in the Extranet.

Uploaded, but not showing (or rejected)

• Not on the property page yet: Booking.com says photo changes can take up to 48 hours to appear. If they still don't show after 48 hours and the photos meet the requirements, report the issue from the help page.
• The upload fails: check the file is a JPEG, landscape, at least 300 × 300 pixels and, in the Extranet, no larger than 1.3 MB.
• A photo silently disappears: through the Photo API, an exact duplicate of a photo already in the gallery is rejected and not saved, with no warning at upload.
• The order changed back: smart ordering may be on, or a channel manager may control the order. SiteMinder, for example, says that once its Booking.com media sync is on, its order overwrites changes made in the Extranet.
• Wrong photos in a room: the photo is in the main gallery but not assigned to the room, or assigned to the wrong one. Fix it under Edit.
• Can't delete the main photo: through the Photo API, the main photo can only be deleted while the property is closed; set another main photo first.
• Removed later: Booking.com says uploading content without the necessary rights may lead to content removal or account restrictions, so only upload photos you own or have permission to use.

Booking.com doesn't publish a list of rejection reasons or messages for the Extranet. If a photo keeps failing, contact partner support with the file type, pixel size and file size of the photo.

Doing it with October

If you are retaking the photos anyway, the October app handles the parts Booking.com checks for: it shows where to stand in each room, keeps the phone level and takes the photos itself, so housekeeping or front-desk staff with an iPhone 12 or newer can capture a room. Every photo is a new image drawn by an AI image model from that capture, as a wide landscape image, with the same daylight look in every room and loose items left out; the model is told to keep walls, floors, windows, fittings and the view. Photos and a walkthrough video usually come back within a few hours. Compare each photo with the room before you upload it, and check that Booking.com's content guidelines allow the images you post.

A place is up to 6 rooms, for example one room type with its bathroom, or a set of public areas. Photos cost $49 a place, $99 with a walkthrough video and $199 with a 4K walkthrough; monthly plans are $149 for 2 places and $399 for 6. Your first place is free. See pricing.

Questions