5 Levers to Optimize Short-Term Rental Profitability Without Increasing Bookings

How to Grow Revenue Without Growing Occupancy

In short-term rentals, most hosts focus their efforts on one main goal: filling their calendar.
But there’s another lever, often simpler and sometimes even more profitable: making the most of each existing booking.

Offer Relevant Upsells

Additional services are one of the most effective ways to increase revenue.
A late check-out, a welcome bottle, a baby kit, breakfast delivery, or even mid-stay cleaning, all small touches that enhance guest comfort and generate direct income.

Example: A property manager in Lyon added three simple options: late check-out (€25), mid-stay cleaning (€40), and a romantic package (€35).
Result: an 11% increase in average revenue per stay.

The key is to make the purchase process effortless. If a guest has to message you or figure out how to pay, the sale is often lost. A practical solution is to integrate an online payment platform, such as Stripe, directly into a digital welcome guide, allowing guests to book, pay, and confirm in seconds, without friction.

Highlight Local Experiences

Travelers today seek a complete experience, not just accommodation. Sharing local recommendations, restaurants, activities, and shops, enriches the guest’s stay both inside and outside the property. This approach strengthens satisfaction, builds loyalty, and increases the likelihood of positive reviews and repeat bookings.It can also be beneficial to establish partnerships with local businesses, restaurants, tour guides, transfer companies, and negotiate a commission on bookings, creating recurring passive income each month.

Example: A property manager in Nice features a local boat rental service in their welcome guide. Each €1,500 booking earns a 10% commission, or €150 in additional revenue, while offering guests a memorable experience.

Result: the guest receives quality advice, the local partner gains visibility, and the host effectively diversifies their revenue streams.

Automate Responses to Reduce Friction

A large portion of guest messages covers the same questions:
“What’s the Wi-Fi code?”
“How do I turn on the air conditioning?”
“What time is check-out?”
“Where can I eat nearby?”

These repetitive exchanges can take up several hours of management time each week. Using an intelligent chatbot capable of automatically answering common questions can eliminate most of these requests.

Example: A host in Marseille implemented a multilingual automated assistant, available 24/7 in more than 20 languages.

Result: nearly 80% of guest inquiries were handled without human intervention, saving around 10 hours of work per week and improving guest communication ratings.

Automation doesn’t replace the human touch, it simply frees up time for what really matters.

Centralize Information to Streamline the Guest Journey

The guest experience doesn’t begin at check-in, it starts at the moment of booking. A smooth, well-structured journey, free of confusion or scattered information, has a direct impact on satisfaction and loyalty. By centralizing all essential information, Wi-Fi codes, check-in details, tutorials, instructions, additional services, and local recommendations, in a single digital space, guests can stay informed and autonomous at every stage of their stay.

Example: A property manager in Biarritz gathered all key stay details, arrival instructions, parking information, and waste management, into her digital guide, along with photos and short explanatory videos.

Result: no guest calls on these topics for three months and a significant improvement in feedback regarding clarity and ease of use.
The time saved allowed her to focus on higher-value tasks, such as acquiring new properties to manage.

Strengthen Brand Consistency Across All Materials

Your property is also your brand. A consistent visual identity, colors, fonts, tone of voice, and QR-code materials, builds trust and enhances the perceived quality of your offer.

Example: A property manager in Annecy standardized her welcome guides, QR codes, and communications according to her brand style guide.

Result: a seamless and recognizable experience, and a doubled guest return rate within one season.

This consistency reinforces professionalism and contributes to a more premium brand image.

In Conclusion

Increasing revenue doesn’t necessarily mean increasing occupancy. It’s first and foremost about enhancing the value of each stay, by offering useful services, reducing friction, creating a smooth and cohesive experience, and turning each satisfied guest into a future ambassador.

The most successful hosts and property managers today aren’t those who host the most guests but those who host the best.