Managing a short-term rental (STR) or hotel property requires more than just offering a great guest experience. To stay competitive and profitable, you need to monitor key performance indicators regularly. Tracking important stats every quarter helps you make smarter decisions, adjust your strategies, and improve your property’s financial health.

If you want your property to grow and succeed, here are five crucial stats to track every quarter, along with practical advice on how to use the information.

1. Occupancy Rate: Understanding Your Property’s Demand

Occupancy rate shows the percentage of rooms or rental nights booked during a specific timeframe. It is one of the most basic yet important metrics in hospitality.

Why it matters:

• Occupancy rate directly affects your total revenue.
  
• High occupancy suggests strong demand but should be balanced with your pricing.
  
• Low occupancy can indicate marketing, pricing, or service issues.
  

How to use this data:

• Compare your occupancy rate with previous quarters and market competitors.
  
• Identify seasonal trends or unexpected changes.
  
• Plan promotions or special offers during low occupancy times to increase bookings.
  

Pro tip: If occupancy is consistently high, consider increasing your average daily rate (ADR) carefully to boost revenue without losing guests.

2. Average Daily Rate (ADR): Evaluating Your Pricing Effectiveness

ADR represents the average revenue earned from each occupied room or rental night. It reflects how effective your pricing strategy is.

Why track ADR:

• It shows the revenue per booked night.
  
• Increasing ADR without lowering occupancy improves your profitability.
  
• It helps you understand if your prices are aligned with market demand.
  

How to calculate ADR:

• Total room revenue ÷ number of rooms sold.
  

How to use ADR:

• Adjust prices based on upcoming events, holidays, or competitor pricing.
  
• Use pricing tools or software to optimize your rates dynamically.
  
• Analyze if your premium pricing matches guest expectations and feedback.
  

3. Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR): Measuring Overall Revenue Performance

RevPAR combines occupancy and ADR to show how much revenue you generate from all available rooms, not just the ones booked.

Why RevPAR is important:

• It gives a more complete picture of your property’s revenue.
  
• Helps you benchmark your performance against competitors and market standards.
  
• Indicates overall profitability by balancing occupancy and pricing.
  

How to calculate RevPAR:

• RevPAR = ADR × occupancy rate (as a decimal).
  

How to use RevPAR:

• Identify strong or weak periods in your revenue performance.
  
• Use it to make decisions about pricing, marketing, and operational improvements.
  
• Monitor it regularly to understand how well your business is doing financially.
  

4. Guest Satisfaction Scores: Capturing the Guest Experience

Guest satisfaction plays a critical role in building your reputation and encouraging repeat bookings.

What to monitor:

• Ratings and reviews on platforms like Airbnb, Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and Google.
  
• Common feedback themes such as cleanliness, communication, and amenities.
  

Why it’s essential:

• Positive reviews boost your online ranking and attract more guests.
  
• Satisfied guests are more likely to pay higher rates and recommend your property.
  
• Negative feedback points to areas that need improvement.
  

How to use guest feedback:

• Regularly check and respond to reviews to show you care.
  
• Address recurring issues to improve guest experience.
  
• Highlight positive feedback in your marketing materials.
  

5. Booking Lead Time: Understanding When Guests Book

Booking lead time is the average number of days between when a guest makes a reservation and their arrival date.

Why track booking lead time:

• Helps you predict future demand and manage cash flow.
  
• Enables you to tailor your marketing and pricing strategies for early planners or last-minute bookers.
  
• Reflects changes in guest booking behavior due to market or seasonal factors.
  

How to use this info:

• If lead times are short, consider last-minute deals or flexible policies.
  
• Longer lead times allow you to plan promotions well ahead.
  
• Adjust your communication and offers based on how far in advance guests typically book.
  

Making Data-Driven Decisions for Your Hospitality Business

Regularly reviewing these five key stats every quarter provides a well-rounded understanding of your property’s performance. Together, occupancy rate, ADR, RevPAR, guest satisfaction, and booking lead time form a solid foundation for making smart business decisions.

Summary points to keep in mind:

• Occupancy rate reveals demand levels and helps with marketing timing.
  
• ADR shows how well your pricing strategy works.
  
• RevPAR combines pricing and occupancy to reveal overall revenue strength.
  
• Guest satisfaction scores reflect service quality and influence reputation.
  
• Booking lead time helps you understand guest behavior and adjust your offers.
  

Using these stats consistently will help you identify trends, improve operations, and increase profitability quarter after quarter. Make it a habit to analyze these numbers and update your strategies to meet market changes and guest expectations.