Precise language, better decisions
24 terms defined the way an operator needs them — with the formula where one exists and the reason it should change what you do.
Showing 24 of 24 terms
Room revenue divided by the number of nights actually sold, excluding cleaning fees and taxes.
ADR = Room revenue ÷ Booked nights
Why it matters: It isolates pricing power from demand. Read alone it flatters you; read with occupancy it explains RevPAR.
The number of days between when a reservation is made and when the stay begins.
Why it matters: Discount ladders and minimum stays should be anchored to your actual booking window, not last year's.
The occupancy level at which contribution covers monthly fixed costs exactly.
Break-even occupancy = Break-even nights ÷ Sellable nights
Why it matters: The best single measure of how much downside risk a unit carries.
Pre-tax annual cash flow divided by the total cash put into the deal.
CoC = Annual cash flow ÷ Total cash invested
Why it matters: The comparison metric across deals, and the one most often inflated by omitting reserves.
The layer that keeps rates, availability and content consistent across booking platforms.
Why it matters: Double bookings and rate drift are almost always synchronisation failures, not human error.
What each additional sold night contributes toward fixed costs and profit.
Contribution = ADR − Variable cost per night
Why it matters: It tells you the real floor rate below which selling a night destroys value.
The elapsed time between a guest message arriving and the first substantive reply.
Why it matters: The strongest single predictor of review outcome when something goes wrong.
The number of nights in a reservation; also the restriction controlling minimum and maximum stays.
Why it matters: LOS controls protect against orphan nights and reduce turnover load — often worth more than rate changes.
Gross revenue less operating expenses, management and reserves, before debt service and tax.
NOI = Revenue − Operating expenses − Management − Reserve
Why it matters: The number that determines whether a unit is a business or a hobby.
Booked nights divided by sellable nights, with owner and maintenance blocks removed from the denominator.
Occupancy = Booked nights ÷ (Total nights − Blocked nights)
Why it matters: A demand signal, not a goal. Very high occupancy usually means the rate is too low.
A single night, or short gap, between two reservations that minimum-stay rules make impossible to sell.
Why it matters: Orphan nights are pure lost RevPAR and are usually fixable with a gap-aware minimum-stay rule.
The share of a future period already on the books at a given number of days out.
Why it matters: Pacing, compared to the same point last year, is the earliest reliable signal that pricing is wrong.
The system of record for reservations, calendars, guests and operational tasks.
Why it matters: Whatever the PMS cannot see, no downstream automation or AI can reason about.
Maintenance performed on a schedule or condition trigger rather than in response to a breakdown.
Why it matters: Failures cost the repair plus refunds, blocked nights and a review that lasts a year.
The structured, verified record of access, amenities, quirks and local information for a property.
Why it matters: It is the grounding layer for every AI answer. Unverified facts are how automation loses trust.
The percentage of maintenance spend triggered by a failure rather than a schedule.
Why it matters: Above 60% you are funding emergencies, not running a maintenance program.
How quickly a listing accumulates reviews relative to its bookings.
Why it matters: Platforms weight recency; a strong historic rating with no recent reviews loses ranking.
Revenue divided by every night the unit was available to sell, whether or not it sold.
RevPAR = ADR × Occupancy
Why it matters: The only headline metric that cannot be improved by raising rate alone. It is the portfolio scoreboard.
The percentage of turnovers that require additional cleaning or correction after being marked complete.
Why it matters: The cheapest cost lever in operations, and the one that improves reviews instead of damaging them.
A turnover that must be completed between a morning checkout and a same-day check-in.
Why it matters: Compressed timing is where turnover failures cluster; capacity should be planned around these days.
The structured response to an in-stay problem: acknowledge, act, commit to a follow-up, close the loop.
Why it matters: Well-recovered stays frequently review better than uneventful ones.
A committed response and resolution time for a defined class of issue.
Why it matters: Without SLAs, urgency is decided by whoever shouts loudest rather than by guest impact.
All revenue — room, fees, upsells — divided by available nights.
TRevPAR = Total revenue ÷ Available nights
Why it matters: Shows whether ancillary revenue is a real contributor or a rounding error in your model.
The full process of returning a unit to guest-ready standard between stays.
Why it matters: The highest-frequency process in the business and the origin of most quality failures.
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Structured paths from foundational metrics to executive decisions.
Pricing, demand and yield intelligence in long form.
The Executive Brief
What moved in demand, cost and regulation last week — and the one call worth making because of it. No news roundups.