What a two-bed flat in central Bristol really earns on short lets (with the numbers)

Every month someone in Bristol asks us the same thing: "What would my flat actually make?" The calculators online give a number nobody believes. So here is a real one.

We managed a two-bedroom apartment on an upper floor of a city-centre block, a short walk from Temple Meads and the harbourside, with city views and no garden. Nothing exotic. In nine months with us it took £44,100 in bookings, 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. The full figures are in the case study.

Where the money came from

Short lets are not a flat line, and the peaks are where the case is made: three months over £6,000, the best at £6,646, against a long-let rent of about £2,000. Across the nine months that averaged out at 85% occupancy and £189 a night. The skill is not in the peaks. Bristol gives you those. It is in keeping the quiet months above the long-let line.

Three things did most of the work:

1. Pricing into events early. Bristol's calendar is dense: conferences, Ashton Gate, two university graduations, the harbour festival, the balloon fiesta. We raised rates weeks ahead and held them rather than discounting to fill.

2. 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.

3. Filling the gaps. Orphan nights between bookings were opened to one-night stays; quiet weeks took longer, cheaper stays rather than sitting empty. Unglamorous, and worth a few thousand a year.

What the owner saw

A statement on the 8th of every month: gross bookings, cleaning, channel commissions, our fee, the transfer. The same layout every month, so the trend was obvious at a glance. The owner lived overseas.

Compared with a long let

A similar two-bed in that part of Bristol lets long-term at roughly £1,600 to £2,000 a month, so call it £19,000 to £24,000 a year before voids, agent fees and the wear of a tenancy. Over nine months the flat took £44,100, which is more than those long-let figures cover in a full year. Costs are higher too: cleaning, linen, utilities, platform fees and management come out of the gross, which is why we publish gross and walk owners through the net for their own flat rather than quoting a magic percentage.

Why we no longer manage it

The owner's family needed the flat. That is the one ending we are always happy with: a clean handover, listings closed properly, final statement reconciled, keys back.

If you own a flat in Bristol

We manage in Cardiff, Newport and Bath already, and Bristol sits in the middle of that triangle. Send us the address and we'll come back with real comparables and an honest range, not a calculator. Short-term rental management in Bristol · Request a proposal

Figures are gross booking revenue across all channels, cleaning fees included, for a single two-bedroom apartment managed by Guesture. Owner details withheld at their request.