How to price your property competitively to attract bookings

Set the right price to maximise your bookings

Setting the right price for your property is one of the most important steps in securing consistent bookings and maximising your revenue. Based on our experience working with thousands of holiday rental owners, here are our top recommendations for effective pricing.

Use Smart Pricing for data-driven rates

To save time and avoid manually updating your rates, we highly recommend enabling Smart Pricing.

This dynamic, data-driven feature automatically adjusts your nightly rate for the next 365 days, ensuring your property stays competitively priced. It uses real-time market data to reflect demand, seasonality, and local trends — and could increase your revenue by up to 60%.

For more details, see our full Smart Pricing guide here.

Lower your price temporarily to build momentum

If your property is new or not yet receiving as many bookings as you’d like, consider reducing your price temporarily. This helps attract early guests and generate those first all-important reviews.

Once your property has built up positive ratings and a solid property score, you can gradually increase your pricing to reflect the added value and trust your listing has earned.

Research the competition

Take time to research similar properties in your area to understand local market rates. Compare:

• Property size and type
• Number of bedrooms and amenities
• Location and seasonality

Once you’ve found the market average, start slightly below it to encourage bookings. After building up more reviews and demand, increase your rates to position your property competitively.

Offer shorter minimum stays

We recommend setting a minimum stay of one or two nights to increase your property’s visibility in search results. Shorter stays are ideal for weekend breaks and spontaneous trips, which can lead to higher booking volume.

Our data — and insight from our partners at Airbnb and Booking.com — shows that listings offering one-night stays receive significantly more views and bookings.

Factor in your running costs

When setting your price, make sure you cover all your expenses, including:

• Mortgage or rent
• Taxes and insurance
• Utilities (electricity, gas, water, internet)
• Repairs and maintenance

List all your fixed and variable costs to ensure your chosen nightly rate comfortably covers them while still delivering a profit.

Cover cleaning with a separate cleaning fee rather than your nightly rate. Guests pay it once per stay, and booking sites compare listings on the total price, cleaning included. Our cleaning fees guide explains how much to charge.

Keep pricing up to date

It’s vital to have your pricing set for at least 12 months in advance, as many guests book their holidays well ahead of time.

Hosts who don’t update their pricing for the year ahead risk missing out on up to 15% of potential bookings.

Increase pricing during peak periods

Review your pricing annually and identify high-demand dates where you can charge more, such as:

• School holidays and half-term breaks
• Religious holidays
• Bank holiday weekends
• Local events (e.g. concerts, sports events, or festivals)

When adjusting pricing for these periods, also consider any additional running costs (for example, extra cleaning or turnaround expenses).

Be flexible with your booking rules

Avoid restrictive booking conditions such as fixed Saturday-to-Saturday stays or long minimum bookings. Flexibility helps your property appear in more searches and can lead to a noticeable boost in bookings.

For busy or festive periods, you might choose to increase your minimum stay to reduce cleaning and turnaround workload — just keep a balance between flexibility and convenience.

Be transparent about additional costs

Always be upfront about any additional charges, such as parking or laundry. Guests prefer knowing the total cost before they book, and hidden fees can lead to cancellations or poor reviews.

Add cleaning as a cleaning fee in your Travelnest account rather than including it in your nightly rate. Booking sites include it in the total price guests see when they search, so there are no surprises at checkout. Mention any other extras in your property description, and remember to factor channel commission into your pricing.

Keep pricing simple

Avoid overcomplicating your rate structure. Divide your pricing into clear, easy-to-follow periods — such as low season, high season, and holiday breaks like Christmas, New Year, or Easter.

Offering short-stay packages (1-3 nights) at certain times of year is a great way to attract guests during quieter weeks. Just make sure your total cost is always clear to avoid confusion.