What We Learned From 300 STR Investors in One Room:

We recently attended one of the biggest short-term rental conferences of the year, over 300 operators, investors, and designers gathered in Phoenix. The conversations were honest, the data was real, and the themes that kept coming up were impossible to ignore. Here’s what you need to know.

The market has changed. Supply is higher than it’s ever been, guest expectations have risen sharply, and a lot of hosts are quietly earning less than they were two years ago. But here’s what the conference made clear: some operators are still consistently outperforming the market, and there are specific reasons why.

In any given market, the gap between the top and bottom performing property can be as wide as 300%. Same city. Same size. Wildly different results.

These are the six biggest takeaways from the room:

Design is your biggest revenue lever

The whole conference had a design-forward feel, and nearly every session touched on the same point: the properties consistently outperforming the market aren’t just better managed. They’re better designed.

This isn’t about spending more. It’s about spending smarter. A few principles that came up again and again:

Know your guest avatar before you buy a single piece of furniture. Designing for a multi-generational family looks nothing like designing for a solo business traveller. Your avatar should drive every decision.

Design around your top 5 listing photos first. These are the first images guests see on every platform. Put your budget where the camera goes.

Spend more on the master bedroom. The person booking is almost always the one sleeping there. Better comfort drives better reviews, and better reviews drive more bookings.

Keep your color story to three. Mixed design styles read as chaos. Consistency reads as intentional,and intentional gets shared.

Invest in what gets used, not just what looks good. Beds, sofas, seating, these drive reviews far more than decorative pieces that get broken or go missing.

One more thing: white linens. Always. Guests know they’re clean, you can bleach them, and there’s a reason every hotel in the world does this.

The smartest operators aren’t just in a destination. They are the destination.

Boutique resorts, glamping, fully designed experience properties — these aren’t just trends. They’re a strategic response to a more competitive market. When guests are travelling specifically to stay at your property, you stop competing on price and start competing on experience.

These properties also have a structural advantage when it comes to branding. A uniquely designed space gives guests something worth sharing. And when guests share, you build an audience that belongs to you — not Airbnb.

A word of caution: just as supply flooded the standard STR market, boutique experience properties are becoming more common too. Do your due diligence. But the branding and direct booking advantages are real.

Pacing is everything. And most hosts aren’t watching it.

Revenue management came up in almost every conversation. The consensus: it’s not just about setting the right price today. It’s about knowing how you’re tracking against your market weeks and months out.

Use tools like PriceLabs and Wheelhouse actively — not just to set prices and walk away. Watch your entire booking window, not just this month. If you’re more than 5% behind your market, adjust. Don’t wait and hope it catches up.

Historic data is a useful guide, not a guarantee. Supply has increased significantly in most markets and last year’s numbers don’t reflect today’s reality. The operators doing this well treat revenue management as an ongoing practice, not a one-time setup.

Airbnb captures demand. Social media creates it.

One of the sharpest ideas from the conference: your direct booking engine captures demand, but social media is what generates it.

Airbnb shows your listing to people who are already searching. Social media makes people want to stay at your specific property before they’ve even opened an app. That’s a fundamentally different kind of marketing — and the hosts who’ve figured it out are reducing their dependence on OTAs in a meaningful way.

The STR operators seeing real results started 12–18 months ago and stayed consistent. It’s not a quick win. But the 15%+ commission you’re handing Airbnb on every booking adds up fast. That’s the cost of not building your own audience.

Once you’ve built traffic to your direct booking site, it becomes measurable like any other channel — conversion rates, cost per booking, return on ad spend. Even standard vacation rentals can build an audience if the content is genuine and consistent.

A 5-step framework for finding your next property

For anyone looking to buy their first or next STR, this framework cuts through the noise and gives you a clear process.

01 — Ask yourself whether this is a pure investment or whether there’s a personal component. If you plan to stay there, that changes the analysis significantly.

02 — Define your buy box. Target cash-on-cash return, total budget, how much you’ll need to invest to get the property guest-ready, and how far you’re comfortable operating remotely.

03 — Pull comps at multiple percentiles. Look at the 90th, 75th, and 50th percentile properties in your target market. The 50th is your realistic baseline — not the 90th.

04 — Run a full proforma. Mortgage, taxes, insurance, housekeeping, supplies, utilities — everything. The numbers should tell you whether the deal works, not your optimism.

05 — Execute with trusted advisors. A broker with investment experience, local property managers, and your lender. Confidence at this stage comes from preparation.

When STR isn’t the right answer, know your alternatives

Not every market is worth fighting in right now. If you’re in a heavily saturated area, can’t differentiate your property, and can’t invest more to stand out, midterm rentals through platforms like PadSplit are worth considering.

The model works by renting furnished properties by the room on a midterm basis. Average guest stays six months or longer. Larger homes, six to eight bedrooms, tend to perform best. In the right circumstances, this can outperform both long-term and short-term rental income.

The common thread

Every operator winning right now is doing the same four things: investing in design intentionally, creating experiences guests can’t find elsewhere, building their own audience to reduce OTA dependence, and watching their pacing data closely.

The market is harder. But it’s not unwinnable. We manage 230+ properties across 40+ cities and we’re in the trenches of this every day. We’ll keep sharing what we learn.

Want help thinking through your pet policy across your portfolio?

Our team has managed properties across 40+ cities and worked through this exact decision hundreds of times. We’d be glad to walk you through it.

Visit corzly.com to get started.