Hotel Video Producers: Behind the Scenes of a Week Filming at Dalhousie Castle!
What a Week: Filming at Dalhousie Castle With Factor Fifty
It’s been an extraordinary week for the Factor Fifty team as we wrapped a multi-layered hotel videography project at the historic Dalhousie Castle—an 800-year-old jewel just outside Edinburgh and one of Scotland’s most cinematic luxury properties. For hotel video producers looking for inspiration on how to blend storytelling, operational insight, and lifestyle elegance into a single shoot, this project has been a masterclass in what’s possible when heritage, hospitality and high-end production come together.
A Production With Many Moving Parts
Across several intensive days, our team captured a full spectrum of hotel video content, from corporate interviews to lifestyle sequences that showcase the most experiential corners of the castle. Working alongside two photographers, a hair and makeup artist, hospitality tech experts, the castle’s General Manager, and a dedicated on-site team, the shoot became a rich combination of creativity and operational coordination—a familiar dance for seasoned hotel video professionals.
The core of the project included interviews produced for international hospitality tech leader Profitroom. Capturing these conversations within the castle’s ancient rooms added gravity, warmth, and a sense of continuity between hospitality tradition and modern technology—an angle increasingly valuable for hotels looking to communicate innovation without compromising identity. These interviews will form part of a broader narrative that helps hotels understand how digital tools power guest acquisition and revenue performance, all while being framed within the atmospheric walls of the oldest continually inhabited castle in Scotland.
Lifestyle Content: Bringing the Castle Experience to Life
Alongside the corporate elements, we shifted gears into high-impact lifestyle videography—one of our specialities and a powerful tool for hotels aiming to elevate brand storytelling. Working with a selection of models, we filmed immersive moments designed to highlight Dalhousie’s unique experiences, including:
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Birds of prey encounters with the on-site falconry centre
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Fine dining experiences in the castle’s dramatic dungeon restaurant
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Signature spa treatments for wellness-focused content
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Cocktail scenes, capturing the castle’s atmospheric lounges
These sequences were crafted to give potential guests a window into the tactile, sensory, and emotional aspects of a stay. For luxury hotels looking to compete in a visually driven marketplace, these experiential vignettes remain essential. The castle’s falconry team were a particular highlight, not least because we learned that several of their birds have appeared in major film productions including Harry Potter, Highlander, and a long list of television credits—proof, if any were needed, of the cinematic potential we had to work with.
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Staying in an 800-Year-Old Castle
One of the remarkable benefits of hotel video production is the opportunity to fully experience the properties you film. Dalhousie Castle is no exception. Staying on site allowed our team to shoot at dawn, capture quiet moments, and build an authentic rhythm around the natural life of the castle. It also meant discovering some incredible stories—like the fact that Elton John has his own room at the castle, a detail that beautifully illustrates the calibre of guests this property attracts.
For hotel video producers, moments like these emphasise why location immersion is so valuable. Storytelling becomes stronger when you feel the venue, not just film it.
A Powerful Blend of Corporate and Creative
This project perfectly encapsulated the direction modern hotel videography is moving toward: content that blends brand identity, guest experience, and commercial strategy into one cohesive output. From technology interviews to cinematic lifestyle sequences, Dalhousie Castle provided the ideal backdrop for a case study in multi-format hotel video production.
As we head into post-production, we’re excited to bring this footage to life and showcase how a property with deep historical roots can be positioned for modern travellers—and modern digital platforms.
Factor Fifty’s week at Dalhousie Castle is a reminder of what makes hotel videography such an extraordinary field: every shoot is a new story, a new collaboration, and a chance to elevate the way hotels connect with their audience.
