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CASE STUDY · CARDIFF CITY CENTRE · TWO-BED APARTMENT
A two-bed off St Mary Street: agents quote up to £1,700 a month. It took £139,000 in bookings over three years.
A two-bedroom apartment in a modern block in Cardiff city centre, minutes from Cardiff Central and the Principality Stadium, the kind agents let long-term for £1,200 to £1,700 a month. Run by Guesture as a short-term let for an overseas owner over three full years. The owner stays anonymous; the numbers are theirs.
4.8×
the top of the long-let rent range, taken in bookings in the flat’s best month
£139k
in bookings over three full years with us
£186
a night on average across three years
8
months over £5,000 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 currently list for similar two-beds in Cardiff city centre, £1,700 a month. Published November 2026 by Pedro Reis, founder of Guesture.
THE CARDIFF QUESTION
What a city-centre two-bed is usually quoted
Cardiff 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 for three full years.
Letting agents price a two-bed like this one way: a long tenancy at £1,200 to £1,700 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
£1,200–£1,700 a month
Over a year, before voids
£14,400–£20,400
With Guesture, best full year
£51,443 in bookings
Its best month with Guesture
£8,217
THE OWNER AND THE BRIEF
A hands-off return, from overseas
The owner is an investor based abroad who did not visit the flat while we ran it. 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 a minute.
We took the flat on, photographed it properly, listed it on Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia and on our own site, and ran everything from guest messages to cleaning, linen and maintenance. The owner saw one page on the 8th of each month: nights sold, what each channel brought in, costs, our fee and the amount paid to them.
The main bedroom, with the city outside
THE NUMBERS
Its best month took nearly five times the rent; three more took three times
Bookings in a month, the four best shown. The dashed line is the top of the long-let rent range agents list for a similar flat.
Long-let rent, top of range: £1,700 a month
Best month
2nd
3rd
4th
£8,217 · 4.8×
£5,206 · 3.1×
£5,203 · 3.1×
£5,180 · 3.0×
The best month wasn’t a one-off: eight months cleared £5,000 across the three years. Year by year the flat took £51,443, £40,658 and £47,077, selling 279, 225 and 243 nights at £184, £181 and £194 a night. The softer middle year was about nights sold, not price, and the third year came back with the highest rate of the three.
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. Cardiff gives you those. It’s in keeping the quiet months above the long-let line and selling the nights between the big weekends, year after year.
Priced every night
Rates set weeks ahead against Cardiff’s calendar: Six Nations and autumn internationals, stadium concerts, graduations and the conference season. Peak dates priced early and held rather than discounted at the last minute.
Four channels, plus direct
Listed on Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and Expedia, with direct bookings through our own site on top. Each channel was priced and policed separately so the calendar never double-booked and no channel undercut another.
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 format, for three years.
FROM GUESTURE
In Pedro’s words
“Three years is long enough to see what a flat really does. The rate held between £181 and £194 a night the whole way through, while the city filled up with new listings. That came from pricing into Cardiff’s calendar early and holding the line, not from chasing the flat next door.”
Pedro Reis, founder, Guesture
“Our management ended by agreement after a little over three years. We handed the flat back clean, closed the listings properly and reconciled the final statement. Three years of clean numbers is a good way to part.”
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 over three years. The owner prefers not to be named, so the building and address stay private.
What counts as bookings?
What guests paid for their stays, including cleaning, before channel commission and our management fee. It is the gross figure, which is the one we can show without argument; the net depends on the flat and how the owner wants it run.
Is a long-let rent a fair comparison?
It’s the figure Cardiff owners are usually quoted, so it’s where we start. A rent is close to what the owner keeps; bookings are before costs, so the real gap is smaller than the headline. It is still a gap, and the owner keeps the use of the flat.
Why don’t you manage it any more?
Our management ended by agreement in the flat’s fourth year. We handed it back clean, closed the listings properly and reconciled the final statement.