How do I get my hotel on Google Maps?

Create or claim the Google Business Profile for the property, choose a lodging category (Hotel, Bed & breakfast, Inn, Guest house, Holiday home, Cottage or Self-catering accommodation), verify it, and the pin appears on Maps within a few days. To appear in the hotel results with a price next to your name, add your rates through the profile or connect your booking engine to Google Hotel Center.

Before you create anything, search the property's name on Google. Most established properties already have a listing, created by Google from OTA and directory data, and creating a second one produces a duplicate that Google will eventually merge or suspend. If a listing exists and shows "Own this business?", claim it. If it exists and is managed by someone else, a previous owner or an agency, request ownership from inside the listing; Google gives the current manager a few days to respond and then lets you verify.

The steps

1. Sign in with a Google account that belongs to the business, not to a member of staff, and go to the Business Profile manager.
2. Enter the name exactly as it appears on the sign and the website, the address, and the phone reception answers.
3. Choose the primary category the property is. A guest house set to Hotel loses the guest-house searches and gains nothing; a pub with rooms chooses Inn or Pub as primary depending on which business it wants to grow.
4. Verify. Google increasingly asks lodging businesses for a short video walking from the street sign to reception and showing something only the owner could access. Postcards and phone calls are offered less often now.
5. Once verified, complete the lodging sections: hotel class, check-in and check-out, every amenity that is true, photos in Google's categories, the description, the official website link.
6. Add rates. Eligible individual properties can enter rates and availability in the profile by calendar or bulk editor; a connected booking engine keeps them live through Hotel Center. Until a rate is in, the property shows in the hotel results without a price, or with only the OTAs' prices.

Where the pin goes and why it matters

Put the pin on the building, not the entrance to the lane. Distance from the searcher is one of the main ranking signals in the map, and it is measured from the pin. For a rural property, check that Google's address matches what the satnav needs; guests use the panel's directions button, and a pin in the wrong field is a bad first review.

Holiday lets and multiple units

A holiday let with one address gets one listing, in the Holiday home or Cottage category, even if it has three units. A business that lets separate properties at separate addresses can list each one, provided each has its own signage and a guest could turn up and find it. Listings for properties that exist only as a booking page get suspended.

After the pin

The pin is the start. The position in the hotel module comes from the completeness of the listing, the rating and count of reviews, and whether Google has a rate to show. The profile checklist for hotels in our guides takes it from a pin on the map to a listing that books.