For a hotel, every guest decision starts long before check-in. Travelers scroll Instagram and TikTok to see the room, the lobby, the restaurant, and the neighborhood before they ever open a booking site. That is why hotel influencer marketing has become one of the most effective tools in tourism and hospitality, and why HotMod Agency has spent multiple seasons partnering with one of Lakeland’s most iconic properties: The Terrace Hotel.
This case study walks through how we used creators to showcase the hotel, launch a new restaurant menu, support destination marketing for Central Florida, and celebrate the hotel’s 100th anniversary, plus what any hotel, resort, or tourism board can learn from it.
About The Terrace Hotel in Downtown Lakeland
The Terrace Hotel is a historic landmark in downtown Lakeland, Florida, overlooking Lake Mirror. Originally opened in 1924 and now part of Hilton’s Tapestry Collection, it blends classic Florida architecture with a boutique hotel experience, an elegant lobby, and the Terrace Grille restaurant. In 2024, the hotel celebrated its centennial, a milestone that made it the perfect story for local and travel creators to tell.
The Goal: Turn a Historic Hotel Into a Must-Visit Experience
Historic hotels have a built-in story, but that story only works if the right people see it. The Terrace wanted to:
- Reach both local diners and out-of-town travelers
- Show off the full guest experience, from suites to dining
- Promote the Terrace Grille’s new All Day Menu
- Build buzz around its Centennial Celebration events
- Collect high-quality photos and video the hotel could use long after each campaign
Our Hotel Influencer Marketing Approach
Instead of a single post, we built an ongoing creator program in phases, each one designed around a specific business goal.
Phase 1: Showcasing the Lobby and Atmosphere
We started by bringing creators into the hotel to capture its signature spaces: the historic lobby, the lounge seating, and the relaxed wine-and-conversation atmosphere that makes The Terrace feel different from a standard chain hotel. Lifestyle content like this sells the feeling of a stay, which is exactly what travelers are searching for.
Phase 2: An Overnight Stay and a New Menu Launch
When the Terrace Grille introduced its new All Day Menu, we paired a restaurant launch with a full hotel experience. Lifestyle creator Christina of Somehow I’m Everywhere stayed overnight in a King Suite, sampled ten dishes from the new menu at dinner, and enjoyed breakfast the next morning.
Deliverables were built to cover both sides of the business:
- Reel 1: the dining experience at the Terrace Grille, posted as an Instagram collaboration with the restaurant’s account
- Reel 2: the full hotel experience, from check-in to the suite
- Instagram Stories with a call-to-action link to the restaurant’s website
- Ten professional food images with perpetual usage rights for the hotel’s own marketing
Phase 3: Partnering With Visit Central Florida
Hotels win when the whole destination wins. We coordinated a travel creator visit alongside Visit Central Florida, positioning The Terrace as home base for exploring Polk County. The plan included a brunch experience, pre-dinner drinks and a cheese board at the hotel, a trip recap reel highlighting where the creator stayed, a dedicated culinary reel, and daily stories tagging the tourism board, the hotel, and the local businesses and attractions visited along the way.
Inviting the destination marketing organization as a collaborator on each reel put the hotel in front of the tourism board’s audience too, a simple move that multiplies reach.
Phase 4: The Terrace Hotel 100th Anniversary Campaign
For the centennial, The Terrace brought on HotMod Agency for full-service influencer management. Our team handled:
- Influencer strategy development
- Creator recruitment for up to eight influencers
- Contracts aligned with Hilton’s brand and photo licensing requirements
- Campaign management and scheduling
- Content approval and quality assurance
- Performance analytics
One highlight was a centennial dinner featuring the All Day Menu and a signature cocktail served in the hotel’s speakeasy pop-up. Creators posted collaborative Reels with the Terrace Grille, mentioned the Centennial Celebration events, and drove followers to the restaurant’s website for event details. The hotel reviewed content before it went live to make sure every detail was accurate.
What Hotels and Tourism Brands Can Learn From This Campaign
1. Sell the Experience, Not Just the Room
Travelers book feelings: the lobby, the dinner, the morning coffee, the walk around the lake. Pairing a stay with dining gives creators a complete story to tell.
2. Use Collaboration Posts
Instagram collab posts publish content to both the creator’s and the hotel’s audience at once. It is one of the easiest ways to grow a hotel’s own following during a campaign.
3. Lock In Usage Rights
Every phase included photos and video the hotel could keep using. That turns a single creator visit into months of social content, website imagery, and ad creative.
4. Respect Brand Standards
Branded hotels have legal, licensing, and approval requirements. An agency that understands hotel-level influencer agreements and content review keeps campaigns moving without risk to the brand.
5. Partner With Your Tourism Board
Working alongside a destination marketing organization like Visit Central Florida expands reach and positions the hotel as part of a bigger travel story.
6. Tie Content to a Moment
A menu launch, a renovation, an anniversary, or a seasonal event gives creators a reason to post now and gives followers a reason to visit now.
Why Influencer Marketing Works for Hotels and Hospitality
- Trust: travelers trust real guest experiences more than polished ads.
- Discovery: social platforms are now search engines for “where to stay” and “where to eat.”
- Two audiences at once: local creators drive staycations and restaurant traffic, while travel creators reach out-of-town visitors.
- Reusable content: creator photos and video often outperform stock imagery in ads and on booking pages.
- Affordable reach: hosted stays and dining experiences can deliver strong content at a fraction of a traditional photoshoot.
The same strategy works for restaurants, too. See our guide to influencer marketing for restaurants in Tampa Bay and Polk County.
Types of Hotel Influencer Partnerships
- Hosted stays: a complimentary night in exchange for agreed content
- Dining experiences: showcasing the hotel restaurant, bar, or brunch
- Paid content packages: Reels, TikToks, and stories for a set fee
- Event coverage: anniversaries, holiday events, and grand openings
- Destination collaborations: joint campaigns with tourism boards and local attractions
- Ongoing ambassador programs: repeat visits that build familiarity over time
Every paid or hosted partnership should be clearly disclosed. Learn more about why FTC regulations matter in influencer marketing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hotel influencer marketing?
Hotel influencer marketing is partnering with content creators to showcase a hotel’s rooms, dining, amenities, and destination to their audiences, usually through hosted stays, paid content, or event coverage.
Do small or independent hotels benefit from influencers?
Yes. Boutique and historic hotels often have the most compelling stories to tell, and local micro-influencers can drive staycations, restaurant reservations, and event attendance.
How do tourism boards use influencers?
Destination marketing organizations invite creators to experience a region’s hotels, restaurants, and attractions, then collaborate on content that inspires travel to the area.
Can HotMod Agency manage a hotel or tourism influencer campaign?
Yes. HotMod handles strategy, creator recruitment, contracts, brand compliance, content approval, and reporting for hotels, resorts, restaurants, and tourism boards across Central Florida.
Ready to Put Your Hotel on the Map?
From a single hosted stay to a full anniversary campaign, hotel influencer marketing turns your property into a destination people want to experience. If you run a hotel, resort, or tourism brand in Lakeland, Polk County, or anywhere in Central Florida, reach out to HotMod Agency and let’s build a campaign that fills your rooms and your tables.