11 Vibey Motel Photoshoot Ideas For Your Instagram

Need motel photoshoot ideas? We get it! You might if you’re planning a stay at a motel and wondering how you can create a cool and interesting photoshoot. Well, we’ve got you covered! Here are 11 of our motel photoshoot ideas that will help take your Instagram to the next level. Throughout our list, you’ll find many of the ideas accompanied by suggestions of specific Peerspace venues that you can rent to make your photoshoot dreams a reality. Keep reading to get seriously inspired! 

1. Slumber party motel photoshoot

Whether you’re photographing a group of models or a group of your friends, a slumber party-themed photoshoot is a great way to take advantage of your stay at a motel. You can capture yourselves watching scary movies, eating candy and popcorn, painting each other’s nails, laughing together – basically recreating all the fun activities from your childhood slumber parties! You’ll have a blast and create some fabulous photos in the process.

2. 60s/mid-century photoshoot

Another retro idea that we absolutely love? The classic 1960s, mid-century motel vibe that many of us might remember from our childhoods (depending on your age, this may or may not ring true). If you’re looking for the right place to make this motel photoshoot idea a reality, consider the Honeymoon Inn in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles!

It’s “a privately owned film/photo studio that truly is a vintage time capsule! All sets are original, unique and modular. Shoot as is, or tweak and move things around to fit your taste. Unlimited creative potential”. It comes with numerous retro spaces including a motel room, motel bathroom, and motel office as well as other retro room sets. To quote one happy reviewer, “Honeymoon Inn was amazing! I’ve been wanting to shoot in this space for a while and it looked exactly how I pictured! Our host was awesome! Most definitely recommend and will be back again!”

3. 70s motel photoshoot

If you love the fashions and color palettes of the 70s, using these for inspiration for your motel photoshoot is an awesome idea. Whether you go in a disco-inspired direction or for a more hippie-inspired vibe, there’s so much fun to be had with this motel photoshoot idea. Looking for the right place to hold this photoshoot? How about this kitschy, vintage Wes Anderson-inspired cabin in the mountains of Southern California? 

4. 80s motel photoshoot

Wanna do an 80s-themed motel photoshoot? (Think: big 80s hair, mini skirts, leg warmers, stirrup pants, denim jackets, etc.). Check out this blast-from-the-past motel room set at this filmmaker’s home turned production house in Jonesboro, Georgia. The host explains, “There were sets that I needed and couldn’t access, so, I have created my home specifically for productions with three staged bedrooms, one bath, living room, and kitchen”. What a cool idea!

5. Contemporary motel photoshoot

Doing a contemporary motel photoshoot is all about finding the right space. For this motel photoshoot idea, we strongly recommend this funky motel in Queens, New York. It was renovated in summer 2018 and has nine rooms, each decorated by a different artist that gives it its own distinctive vibe. You can book any or all of the rooms for your photoshoot. It’s just a matter of deciding which are most interesting to you and best suited to your planned photoshoot!

6. Luxurious motel photoshoot

Motels don’t have to be ancient and run-down, even though that’s generally how we tend to think of them. Why not take things in the totally opposite direction and do a luxurious motel photoshoot at a suitably glamorous space? You can make this motel photoshoot idea a reality at this downtown red and blue luxury two-room suite with bed and bathtub in Central Los Angeles. Plus, it’s available for rent at a very motel-like rate of just about $49 per hour. 

7. Gritty motel photoshoot

You can take “gritty” in a ton of different directions, of course, but we had to include this one on the list because “gritty” and “motel” so often fit together. Your ideal gritty photoshoot might involve the model dressed as a cool biker or crying with mascara streaks on her face while smoking a (fake!) cigarette. A simple room like this retro Hollywood motel would be the perfect space to make your own for your cool, gritty photoshoot. 

8. Boudoir motel photoshoot

A sexy boudoir photoshoot would work perfectly at a motel or motel-style location. Especially if you combine this motel photoshoot idea with a more retro feel. Think: Beyonce in the ultra-retro music video for “Why Don’t You Love Me?” This retro-themed motel in Houston, Texas is perhaps the perfect destination for this type of photoshoot. It includes a vintage TV, tons of retro furniture, a full-sized bed, a retro bathroom with a motel sign, a clawfoot tub, and plenty of useful props throughout the space.

9. Motel bathtub portrait photoshoot

A milk bath photoshoot allows you to use your motel bathtub to great effect. It’s an awesome visual technique for portraits because it places the focus of the photos on your subject by creating white space around them. The photos come out surreal, ethereal, even otherworldly. Not sure how to get started with this motel photoshoot idea? Learn more about how to do a milk bath photoshoot here! 

10. Haunted motel photoshoot

An older hotel like this Victorian Riverview Mansion Hotel & Lounge Production Space in Golconda, Illinois could be the perfect fit for your haunted motel photoshoot. Motels are slightly different from hotels, of course, but hotel rooms can easily be rearranged and shot to look more like a motel. Perhaps the subject of this photoshoot goes all out and dresses in a ghost costume. Or perhaps you take things in a slightly more subtle direction and focus on giving your photos an overall spooky vibe.

11. Perfectly pink motel photoshoot

Our final motel photoshoot idea. Although this downtown pink retro two-room suite may not actually be a motel suite, it can definitely feel like a retro motel out of a larger-than-life movie (John Waters, anyone?)! The space includes a telephone booth and carousel horse and is made up of two rooms: the Pink Striped Room and the Pink Fur Bedroom. For this motel photoshoot idea, you’ll probably want to focus primarily on the bedroom, since it more accurately captures the feel of a motel.

Find unique photoshoot locations on Peerspace