Pricing a holiday let can feel like one of the simplest parts of running a short-term rental. Pick a nightly rate, put it on Airbnb or Booking.com and wait for the bookings to come in.
In reality, getting pricing right is much more involved.
Demand changes throughout the year. A weekend in Edinburgh can be worth considerably more during a major event. A Cornwall property might command a premium in August but need a completely different strategy in January. A Highlands cottage can attract guests for longer stays outside the traditional summer season, while a city apartment may benefit from mid-week business travellers.
The challenge is knowing when to adjust your rates, by how much and why.
At mySTAYINN, pricing is one of the areas we focus on most closely because getting it right can make a significant difference to the performance of a holiday let. Our pricing service combines four pricing software systems with human expertise, using market conditions, booking patterns and local knowledge to continually optimise rates.
Here are seven common pricing mistakes we see UK holiday let owners make.
1. Keeping the same price all year
One of the biggest mistakes is treating every night as having the same value.
A property in St Andrews might be relatively quiet during one week and in exceptionally high demand during a major golf event. An Edinburgh property can experience huge changes around festivals, concerts and other events. Coastal Cornwall can see very different demand between summer holidays and the quieter winter months.
A fixed nightly rate ignores all of this.
Dynamic pricing allows rates to respond to changing demand rather than relying on one figure throughout the year. This can mean increasing prices when demand is strong and making sensible adjustments when demand is weaker.
The aim isn’t simply to charge more. It is to make sure your price reflects what guests are actually willing to pay at that particular time.
2. Underpricing your busiest dates
It is understandable that owners want to remain competitive, particularly when they are building up their reviews. But being competitively priced does not mean being the cheapest property available.
If your property is almost fully booked weeks or months in advance, that can be a sign that your rates are too low.
Peak dates should be treated differently from ordinary dates. School holidays, Christmas and New Year, major sporting events, festivals, university events and popular local weekends can all create additional demand.
For example, if comparable properties in your area are increasing their rates because of an event and your price remains unchanged, you could fill your calendar quickly but still leave significant revenue behind.
Good pricing should therefore consider not only whether a date is likely to sell, but the value of that demand.
3. Dropping prices too quickly when bookings are slow
The opposite mistake is assuming that an empty calendar automatically means your property is too expensive.
Sometimes it does. But not always.
A quiet period could be caused by weak demand, poor listing visibility, insufficient reviews, limited availability, unsuitable minimum stays or a competitor offering something that your property does not.
Simply reducing the nightly rate may solve the immediate problem while creating another one: lower revenue without necessarily generating substantially more bookings.
Before changing your price, look at the bigger picture.
Is your property appearing prominently on booking platforms? Are your photographs strong? Is your listing description clear? Are you offering the right stay lengths? Does the property appeal to the guests who are actually travelling at that time of year?
Pricing works best when it is considered alongside the rest of your holiday let strategy.
4. Ignoring local events and demand patterns
UK holiday let demand is rarely uniform, particularly in destinations such as Edinburgh, St Andrews, Cornwall and the Highlands.
Local events can have a huge impact on how much accommodation people need and how far in advance they are prepared to book.
At mySTAYINN, our pricing approach takes factors such as local events, competitor pricing, seasonality and booking lead times into account. This allows rates to respond to the market rather than relying solely on a generic seasonal price.
The important point for owners is to look beyond national tourism trends.
A major event happening 20 miles away may have little impact on one property but create substantial demand for another. Understanding the local calendar is therefore an important part of successful holiday let pricing.
5. Forgetting about the booking window
When a guest books can be just as important as when they stay.
Some travellers book months ahead because they want to secure specific dates. Others wait until the last minute and make decisions based on availability and price.
This means your pricing strategy should consider booking lead time.
If a popular summer weekend is still available many months ahead, there may be no reason to discount it simply because it hasn’t booked yet. Conversely, if a normally quiet mid-week date is approaching with no interest, a targeted price adjustment could help convert a potential gap into revenue.
The objective is to manage the price throughout the booking window rather than setting it once and forgetting about it.
6. Focusing on occupancy instead of revenue
A full calendar feels good. But 100% occupancy does not automatically mean a holiday let is performing well.
Imagine two properties. One is booked for 25 nights at £100 per night. The other is booked for 20 nights at £150 per night. The second property has lower occupancy but generates more nightly revenue.
This is why occupancy should always be considered alongside your average daily rate and overall revenue.
At mySTAYINN, we look at the wider performance of a property rather than treating occupancy as the only measure of success. Our pricing service is designed to balance demand and revenue, with the company stating an expected 20-40% additional revenue from its comprehensive pricing optimisation service.
That does not mean every property will achieve the same result. Location, property type, presentation, demand and many other factors all matter. It does mean there is value in looking beyond the simple question of whether the calendar is full.
7. Treating every property in your portfolio the same
If you own more than one holiday let, it can be tempting to apply the same pricing rules across all of them.
But a two-bedroom city apartment in London has a very different audience from a rural cottage in the Highlands. A coastal property in Cornwall may be heavily influenced by school holidays, while an Edinburgh apartment may be driven by business travel, festivals and weekend city breaks.
Even properties in the same town can perform differently.
One might have parking, outdoor space and family-friendly facilities. Another might appeal more strongly to couples looking for a short city break.
Pricing should reflect these differences.
This is where data becomes particularly useful. Instead of relying on assumptions about what a property should earn, owners can use booking patterns, competitor rates, local demand and property characteristics to make more informed decisions.
What does good holiday let pricing actually look like?
There is no single formula that works for every UK holiday let. Good pricing is responsive.
It recognises that demand changes, that guests behave differently throughout the year and that a property’s value can change depending on the date. It also recognises that pricing cannot operate in isolation from marketing and guest experience.
At mySTAYINN, our pricing optimisation service combines specialist software with human expertise. We continually monitor market conditions and use our understanding of individual locations to make pricing decisions. This sits alongside our wider Channel Manager, which supports multi-platform marketing, a unified calendar, a single inbox and message automation.
For owners who want a more hands-off approach, our Full Management service also covers areas including professional cleaning and laundry, maintenance, photography, compliance, check-in options and 24/7 guest support.
That wider approach matters because the best price in the world won’t help if your property isn’t being seen, your photographs don’t attract attention or guests aren’t receiving the experience they expect.
Don’t leave your holiday let’s potential untapped
Pricing your holiday let is not about constantly putting your rates up. It is about understanding demand and making sure your pricing reflects it.
By avoiding static rates, recognising peak demand, monitoring the booking window, responding to quieter periods and measuring revenue rather than occupancy alone, owners can make much more informed decisions about their short-term rental business.
For many owners, the hardest part is finding the time to monitor all of this consistently. That is where professional pricing support can make a difference.
At mySTAYINN, we combine technology, market data and human expertise to help UK holiday let owners make more from their properties without having to manage every pricing decision themselves.
If you’re wondering whether your holiday let is priced correctly, or feel you could be generating more revenue from the same property, get in touch with mySTAYINN. We’d be happy to look at your property and discuss how a more considered pricing strategy could help it perform better.
