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CASE STUDY · BRISTOL CITY CENTRE · TWO-BED APARTMENT
A two-bed in central Bristol: agents quote £2,000 a month. It sold 85% of its nights at £189 a night.
A two-bedroom apartment in a modern block in Bristol city centre, the kind agents let long-term for £1,600 to £2,000 a month. Run by Guesture as short-term and serviced stays, it took £44,100 in bookings in nine months, sold 85% of its nights at an average of £189, and cleared £6,000 in a month three times. Its best month took £6,646: 3.3 times the rent.
3.3×
the top of the long-let rent range, taken in bookings in the flat's best month
£44k
in bookings in nine months with us
85%
of nights sold over those nine months, at an average of £189 a night
3
months over £6,000 in bookings
Bookings are what guests paid for their stays, including cleaning, before channel commission and our management fee. Figures come from our booking records and the owner's monthly statements. The rent comparison uses the top of the range agents quote for similar two-beds in central Bristol, £2,000 a month.
THE BRISTOL QUESTION
What a central two-bed is usually quoted
Bristol owners ask us the same thing every month: what would my flat actually make? Online calculators give a number nobody believes, so here is a real one, from a flat we ran for its owner.
Letting agents price a two-bed like this one way: a long tenancy at £1,600 to £2,000 a month, before voids, fees and wear. Nobody quotes it as a hospitality business.
THE USUAL QUOTE, AND WHAT WE TOOK
As a long let, agents' range
£1,600–£2,000 a month
Over a year, before voids
£19,000–£24,000
With Guesture, nine months
£44,100 in bookings
Its best month with Guesture
£6,646
THE OWNER AND THE BRIEF
A hands-off return, from overseas
The owner is an investor based abroad. The brief was simple: a return that beat a long let without the voids and wear of a tenancy, and a monthly statement they could read in five minutes.
We took the flat on, photographed it properly, listed it across the major booking sites and our own channel, and ran everything from guest messages to linen from our base in South Wales.
The living room, with the city outside the windows
THE NUMBERS
Its four best months each took around three times the rent
Bookings in a month, the four best shown. The dashed line is the top of the long-let rent range agents quote for a similar flat.
Long-let rent, top of range: £2,000 a month
Best month
2nd
3rd
4th
£6,646 · 3.3×
£6,284 · 3.1×
£6,095 · 3.0×
£5,773 · 2.9×
The best month wasn't a one-off: three months cleared £6,000 and a fourth came close. Over nine months the flat sold 233 nights, 85% of those available, at an average of £189 a night.
From our booking records and the owner's monthly statements. Each stay is counted in the month it checks out.
WHAT WE DID
Run as a small hospitality business, not a listing
The skill isn't in the peaks. Bristol gives you those. It's in keeping the quiet months above the long-let line and selling the nights nobody wants.
Priced every night
Rates set weeks ahead against Bristol's calendar: conferences, Ashton Gate, graduations, the harbour festival and the balloon fiesta. Peak weeks were held at rate, not discounted to fill.
Long stays when they paid
Most stays came through Airbnb, with direct bookings through our own site on top. When a month looked quiet we took longer stays at the right price: two stays of three and four weeks carried one spring month to £6,646.
Gaps sold, not ignored
Orphan nights between bookings opened to one-night stays, and quiet weeks took longer, cheaper stays rather than sitting empty.
Presented properly
Professional photography, listing copy and captions, online check-in and a personalised guest area for the flat.
Run day to day
Cleaning, linen, maintenance, guest messages around the clock and a statement on the 8th of every month, in the same layout every time.
FROM GUESTURE
In Pedro's words
“The peak months weren't luck. We priced into Bristol's event weeks early and held the rate rather than discounting to fill. The quiet months we kept above the rent by selling the nights nobody wants, and by taking long stays when they paid.”
Pedro Reis, founder, Guesture
“The owner's family needed the flat back in the end, which is the one ending to a management contract I'm always glad about.”
Pedro, on why the engagement ended
QUESTIONS OWNERS ASK
About this case study
Are these figures real?
Yes. They come from our booking records and the monthly statements we sent the owner. The owner prefers not to be named, so the building and the address are withheld.
What counts as bookings?
What guests paid for their stays, including cleaning, before channel commission and our management fee. It isn't the owner's take-home figure.
Is a long-let rent a fair comparison?
It's the figure Bristol owners are usually quoted, so it's where we start. A rent is close to what the owner keeps; short-term bookings carry running costs such as cleaning, laundry, bills, platform fees and our fee. Every proposal we send shows both.
Why don't you manage it any more?
The owner's family needed the flat. We handed it back clean, closed the listings properly and reconciled the final statement.