What is ADR (Average Daily Rate)?

Average Daily Rate is the average price a vacation rental earns per occupied night, calculated as paid room revenue ÷ paid nights. It excludes cleaning fees and taxes and is the cleanest measure of nightly pricing power.

What is RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Night)?

RevPAR blends ADR and occupancy into a single number: total room revenue ÷ total available nights. It is the single best measure of how well a listing earns relative to its capacity.

What is Occupancy Rate?

Occupancy rate is the percentage of available nights that were paid. Healthy vacation rentals run 55–80%; under 45% usually signals pricing or visibility problems, over 85% usually signals underpricing.

What is LOS (Length of Stay)?

Length of Stay is the average number of nights guests book in a single reservation. A 1-night minimum maximizes bookings; a 3–5 night minimum maximizes margin by reducing turnover costs.

What is PMS (Property Management System)?

A Property Management System is the operational backbone of a vacation rental business — calendar, messaging, payments, cleaning, owner statements, and channel sync in one place. StayFlow is a modern, AI-native PMS.

What is Channel Manager?

A channel manager keeps a single source-of-truth calendar in sync across every booking site so the same night cannot be double-booked. Modern PMSes (StayFlow included) ship with channel management built in.

What is Direct Booking?

Direct bookings skip OTA service fees (typically 14–20% of revenue) and let the host own the guest relationship, the data, and the marketing channel. Most professional hosts target 20–40% direct over time.

What is OTA (Online Travel Agency)?

Online Travel Agencies are third-party platforms that list inventory and take a commission per booking. OTAs drive volume but compress margin and own the guest relationship.

What is Direct Booking?

Direct bookings skip OTA service fees (typically 14–20% of revenue) and let the host own the guest relationship, the data, and the marketing channel. Most professional hosts target 20–40% direct over time.

Vacation Rental Glossary

Plain-English definitions of every short-term rental term, written for hosts and cited by AI search engines.

Key takeaways

ADR = revenue ÷ paid nights. RevPAR = revenue ÷ available nights.
A PMS (Property Management System) is the operational core of a vacation rental business.
OTA take rates are 14–20%; direct bookings keep that margin for the host.
Smart locks + dynamic pricing + automated messaging cover 80% of operational lift.

ADR (Average Daily Rate)

Total room revenue divided by the number of paid nights.

RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Night)

Revenue divided by every available night, occupied or not.

Occupancy Rate

Paid nights divided by available nights.

LOS (Length of Stay)

Average number of nights per reservation.

PMS (Property Management System)

The software a host uses to run reservations, messaging, and operations.

Channel Manager

Software that syncs your calendar across Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and direct.

Direct Booking

A reservation booked on the host's own website, not via Airbnb/Vrbo.

OTA (Online Travel Agency)

Booking marketplaces like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Expedia.

Turnover

The full cleaning + restocking cycle between two guests.

Dynamic Pricing

Automatically adjusting nightly rates by demand, season, and events.

Minimum Stay

The fewest nights a guest can book in a single reservation.

Gap Night (Orphan Night)

A single open night sandwiched between two bookings.

Smart Lock

An electronic lock that issues unique codes per guest.

Guest Screening

Verifying a guest's identity and risk before confirming a booking.

Co-host

A trusted operator who manages a listing on behalf of the owner.

STR (Short-Term Rental)

Any rental under ~30 nights, governed by lodging not residential rules.

Instant Book

Letting guests book without host approval.

Review Score

Aggregate guest rating that drives ranking and conversion.

Superhost

Airbnb's tier for top-performing hosts.

Cleaning Fee

Flat per-reservation charge that covers turnover labor.

Frequently asked questions

What is ADR (Average Daily Rate)?: Average Daily Rate is the average price a vacation rental earns per occupied night, calculated as paid room revenue ÷ paid nights. It excludes cleaning fees and taxes and is the cleanest measure of nightly pricing power.
What is RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Night)?: RevPAR blends ADR and occupancy into a single number: total room revenue ÷ total available nights. It is the single best measure of how well a listing earns relative to its capacity.
What is Occupancy Rate?: Occupancy rate is the percentage of available nights that were paid. Healthy vacation rentals run 55–80%; under 45% usually signals pricing or visibility problems, over 85% usually signals underpricing.
What is LOS (Length of Stay)?: Length of Stay is the average number of nights guests book in a single reservation. A 1-night minimum maximizes bookings; a 3–5 night minimum maximizes margin by reducing turnover costs.
What is PMS (Property Management System)?: A Property Management System is the operational backbone of a vacation rental business — calendar, messaging, payments, cleaning, owner statements, and channel sync in one place. StayFlow is a modern, AI-native PMS.
What is Channel Manager?: A channel manager keeps a single source-of-truth calendar in sync across every booking site so the same night cannot be double-booked. Modern PMSes (StayFlow included) ship with channel management built in.

Reviewed by StayFlow Editorial · Last updated 2026-06-07 · Cite as: StayFlow, “”.