A practical pricing strategy for short-term rentals

Pricing is the lever with the biggest effect on what a rental earns, yet most hosts set a number once and forget it. A little structure goes a long way. Here's a practical way to think about it.

Start with a base rate

Your base rate is the price on an ordinary, mid-week, mid-season night. Find it by looking at a handful of genuinely comparable places nearby — same size, same standard, same kind of location — and positioning yourself honestly among them. This is your anchor; everything else moves around it.

Adjust for season and demand

Demand is never flat. Weekends, school holidays, local festivals and peak season all pull prices up; quiet weeks pull them down. You can do this by hand with a few seasonal tiers, or let a dynamic pricing tool nudge rates day by day. Either way, the goal isn't simply higher prices — it's the right price for each date, so you fill the calendar without leaving money on the table.

Use minimum stays as a lever

Price isn't your only control. A minimum night stay protects you from the cost of frequent turnovers and helps fill peak dates with longer, more profitable bookings. Raise it over busy periods, then relax it to mop up the one- and two-night gaps left between reservations.

Watch the metrics that matter

Three numbers tell you whether your pricing is working:

• Occupancy rate — the share of available nights actually booked.
• ADR (average daily rate) — the average price of the nights you sell.
• RevPAR (revenue per available room) — the two combined, and the truest single measure.

High occupancy at low rates can earn less than lower occupancy at strong rates, so never read occupancy alone. If RevPAR is climbing, you're earning more from the same space — however you got there.

Don't forget the net rate

The headline price isn't what you keep. On an OTA charging 18%, a €100 booking nets you €82. A direct booking at €95 actually pays better. Thinking in net terms is what makes the case for growing direct bookings obvious — and it's why the channel you sell on matters as much as the price.

Review, don't set and forget

Pricing isn't a one-time decision. Block half an hour a month to look at the weeks still empty close to their dates, check your numbers against last year, and adjust. Small, regular corrections beat one big annual guess every time.