Hotels are more than just spaces.

January 15, 2025

For two years, I lived in hotels.

No apartment. No place to return to. From one week up to one month at a time, the hotels I worked for - as a photographer and storyteller - became my home.

Art Deco Hotel Montana, Lucerne - Switzerland

The employees, my temporary family.

The lobby, my living room.
The restaurant, my daily dining table.

2 years, 20 hotels across Switzerland - mountains, cities, small towns that weren’t even on my radar.

And what became clear to me is this: hotels aren’t just spaces, they’re personalities. You can have twenty hotels in the same village, yet each one carries its own individuality.

The architecture.
The interior design.
The offers.
The food…

But most of all - the people - the ones running the show. From the office to service to housekeeping. Each person brings their own traits, energy, and way of being, creating an atmosphere unique to that hotel or guesthouse. Something that can’t be replicated anywhere else. Just like no person can.

I often compare hotels (or any business, really) to people.

What you see from the outside - the CI, the branding - is what they choose to wear.
Their offers, services, and words are their CV.
But the culture - the feeling you get when you step inside - is when you meet the person face-to-face.

If you visit a hotel once, for a night or two, you get a surface impression. The way they speak. How they present themselves. And whether that matches the general image they sold online - the website, the visuals, the promise.

But only when you immerse yourself do you truly get to know the space and its true personality.

Just like with people. When conversations become raw. When experiences are shared. That’s when you start to understand what’s going on beneath the surface - the challenges, the thrills, the stories. The essence that goes beyond what you see, beyond just scratching an impersonal surface.

That essence is what I aim to portray with my camera.

Beyond the sterile images (which are also important, but not only).
Not a one-hour shoot and leaving again.

But understanding what it’s really about: who are the people, what stories live inside and around the space, what’s being served, the details, what happens when no one else is watching, how does the light shine inside and outside the space, reflections, sunrises and sunsets?

The Hotel Nomad offer is an immersion.

Seeing what lies beneath - and translating that into images and videos that help others connect more deeply. Not just to a room or a bed, but to a world of experiences.

That’s what creates the feeling of home away from home.

What makes people want to return.
And what turns guests into ambassadors - sharing experiences with friends, family, online, or over a dinner table.

It’s not just about attracting new guests.
It’s about creating connections that last.

Think about it this way:
When you meet someone new, don’t you feel more connected once you learn about their stories, their intrinsic motivations, their passions - rather than just exchanging a quick “What do you do for work?”.

Does this speak to you?
Do you have a hotel or business you’d like to show through a more personal lens?
Do you want to explore together the stories that make you different?

Reach out - and let’s co-create!

Want to see references from my past work as inspiration?
Here are some of the hotels I called home throughout the years.