Will the hotel photos and descriptions come through a hotel booking API, or do I have to add them myself?

Yes, in almost every case the photos, descriptions and facility lists come through with the hotel data, so you do not have to write them or collect pictures yourself. When a customer opens a property on your site, the images, the room names, the address and the list of what the hotel offers are all supplied for you.

This content usually arrives separately from the live prices. Prices and availability change by the minute, so those are fetched fresh every time somebody searches, while the pictures and the written descriptions are delivered as a bulk file that your portal stores and refreshes now and then. That is why the text on a hotel page loads instantly even when the room rates take a few seconds.

How rich the content is depends entirely on the supplier and on the individual property. Well known city hotels tend to have plenty of good images and a full description, while small guest houses in quieter places may have only one or two pictures and a couple of short lines. Descriptions are often in English only, and translations, where they exist, are not always polished. There are also usage rules to respect, because the images belong to the hotel or the supplier and you are normally allowed to show them on your own portal but not to sell them on or use them elsewhere.

Before you commit, ask your supplier whether the content feed is included in your plan and how often you are allowed to refresh it, then look at a handful of real properties in the destinations you sell most, so you know what your customers will actually see.