Pricing

How to price a Hot Springs short-term rental

Good pricing here comes down to three things: knowing which weeks fill on their own, knowing what the platforms and taxes take, and checking your comps often.

Know what comes out of each booking

Item	Current rate	Notes
Airbnb service fee	15.5% for most hosts	One host-paid fee. Guests see the price you set, with no separate guest service fee.
Vrbo commission	12% from Oct. 29, 2026	Replaces the roughly 8% pay-per-booking fee and the annual subscription.
Taxes inside Hot Springs city limits	14.5% total	6.5% state, 2% state tourism, 1.5% county, 1.5% city and 3% A&P. Paid by the guest on stays of 29 nights or fewer.

Airbnb collects and remits these taxes for Hot Springs listings, and Vrbo works with the city on A&P collection too. You still file a monthly A&P report with the city, and you owe the tax yourself on direct bookings.

Build a calendar around local demand

Oaklawn racing: the 2026-27 live season runs Nov. 27 to May 1, with racing Friday through Sunday. Race weekends and big stakes days are when to test higher rates. Get the stakes schedule from Oaklawn each year.
Festivals: the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival runs Oct. 9 to 17, 2026. Add other local events as their organizers announce dates.
Summer: lake properties draw families when school is out. Compare last summer's booking pace by week before you set summer rates for a downtown or cabin listing.
Weekends: in a drive-to destination, Friday and Saturday usually book first. Watch how early each night fills and price the slow nights to move.

Pricing habits that hold up

Price from real compsSearch Airbnb and Vrbo for your bedroom count, area and dates. Note which listings book out and at what price, not just the asking rates.
Launch a little under the marketA new listing with no reviews competes on price. Raise rates as reviews come in and you see how fast dates book.
Set rules for gaps and last-minute nightsAn unbooked night earns nothing. Short-notice discounts and minimum-stay rules that allow one-night gap fills can recover some of them.
Offer weekly and monthly ratesLonger stays mean fewer turnovers. Stays of 30 nights or more fall outside the city's short-term rental definition and the 29-night tax rule, so check how they are treated before you advertise them.
Keep cleaning fees in proportionAirbnb's 15.5% fee applies to the booking subtotal, cleaning fee included, and a high cleaning fee makes one- and two-night stays look expensive. Some hosts fold part of it into the nightly rate.
Review the calendar every weekLook 90 days out. If a weekend has not booked when it usually would, adjust before it is too late to matter.

Dynamic pricing tools

Tools such as PriceLabs, Wheelhouse and Beyond adjust your nightly rate from market data. PriceLabs lists about $20 per listing per month in the US after a 30-day free trial. Set your own minimum price and check that the tool knows the Oaklawn and festival dates.

Common questions

What should I charge per night?

It depends on bedrooms, location, amenities and dates, so we do not publish one number. Start from booked comps for your exact dates and adjust from there.

Should I pass the Airbnb fee on to guests?

Under Airbnb's single-fee model the guest pays the price you set, so build the 15.5% into your rates. Check your own fee setting in your Airbnb account.

Do I need to raise Vrbo rates after Oct. 29?

Vrbo's commission rises to 12%. Work out what that does to your payout per stay and decide whether to adjust your Vrbo rates or keep them matched with Airbnb.

How do I fill slow weeks?

Use weekly and monthly discounts, open shorter minimum stays, and list on sites for medium-term stays such as Furnished Finder.

Ask a pricing question

Tell us about your property and what is not booking, and we will point you to resources that can help.

Sources

Questions about short-term rentals in Hot Springs?

Call or text 501.365.1001, or send a note and we will get back to you.

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