The Smart Way to Price Your Vacation Rental

Host Planet

Ready to take your revenue strategy to the next level?

In this episode of the Host Planet Podcast, we uncover the three Rs of short-term rental revenue management — essential principles every property manager should know.

Our special guest is Zak Ali, a published author and revenue expert who has helped some of the biggest brands in the vacation rental space build powerful, bespoke pricing systems that deliver results.

Whether you manage one property or a growing portfolio, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you maximise income, boost occupancy, and optimise your pricing strategy.

Tune in now — and unlock the full potential of your revenue management game.

Key takeaways:

• Pricing automation without strategy is just accelerated noise.

• How to avoid reactive and emotional pricing.

• The obvious signs you are under-pricing your rental.

1:08 The most common revenue management mistakes

1:59 Be listed in the right places and know your target guest

3:36 Revenue isn’t earned, it’s designed

4:15 What can property managers do to avoid being reactive?

5:16 Revenue management advice for smaller hosts

7:13 Dynamic pricing

9:05 How to create a revenue management strategy

11:28 Automation without strategy is just accelerated noise

13:43 The importance of setting a target

16:01 You can have too many bookings!

18:03 Brand reputation should be part of your strategy

20:05 The three Rs of revenue management

23:39 Why property managers struggle to action their data

25:19 Pricing with a purpose

26:26 Should hosts use a dynamic pricing tool? Yes!

30:22 Obvious signs an operator is under-pricing

30:57 The optimum occupancy rate

34:37 What the STR industry can learn from hotels

36:33 Brand alignment and pricing strategy

41:10 Responsive calendars

45:08 Revenue management tools need strategy

46:42 Favourite brand: Hostfully and Joseph Cox

47:48 Individual shout-out: Alistair Handyside from PASC UK

49:06 No. 1 tip for revenue managers

Host Planet: https://www.hostplanet.club/

James Varley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdsvarley/

Zak Ali: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zak-a-056b2714/

PASC UK: https://www.pascuk.co.uk/

Episode to check next:

How Braydon Ross (AKA @MrAirbnb) Built a Short-Term Rental Empire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_OP7oqGsmE&t=7s

The Host Planet Podcast is presented by James Varley, a holiday let investor and property manager who is also the Founder of Host Planet. Before founding Host Planet, James spent 20 years in the media, including a decade leading corporate communications for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Contact the show: [email protected]

#HostPlanet #HostPlanetPodcast #HostPlanetBitesize #ShortTermRentals #VacationRentals #HolidayLets #Airbnb #BookDirect #PropertyManagement #PropertyInvestment #BookingCom #Vrbo #ZakAli #DynamicPricing #RevenueManagement