When guests make booking decisions in seconds and expect more from every stay, simply “being cheaper than the competition” is no longer a viable strategy.
“Price Smart, Look Sharp: Optimising Listings for the Modern Guest” was the central theme of a standout session at VRWS 2025 in Rome, featuring Noemi Oreglia, Revenue Consultant & Team Lead at Beyond; Mrinalini Sharma, Director of International Account Management at Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy; and Irene Bernini, Head of Commercial Operations at Wonderful Italy - all guided by moderator Zak Ali, a pricing enthusiast who couldn’t resist diving into the discussion himself.
Together, they unpacked what value truly means today, how to approach pricing intelligently, and why “looking sharp” across your listings is now non-negotiable.
1. What Guests Really Mean by “Value”
Ask ten property managers to define value, and you’ll likely get ten different answers - and that’s precisely the point Noemi began with.
Value is a perception, not a fixed figure:
- It shifts depending on guest demographic
- It varies by booking channel
- It evolves over time and across seasons
- And it can look entirely different from the perspective of a guest versus an owner
Irene Bernini from Wonderful Italy broke value into three core dimensions:
- Guest value: the balance between expectations and the experience delivered
- Owner value: expectations versus the actual revenue achieved
- Property manager value: keeping both sides satisfied and profitable by aligning expectations
For Mrinalini Sharma and the Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy portfolio, value extends well beyond price to encompass:
- Consistent quality
- Brand standards
- Comfort, convenience, and confidence
- And the kind of experience that inspires loyalty and repeat stays
The takeaway? Value isn’t what you believe your property is worth, it’s what your target guest feels they’re receiving in return for what they pay.
2. Base Price & Minimum Price: The Foundations You Can’t Ignore
We often talk about dynamic pricing, but as Noemi from Beyond highlighted, none of it works if your base and minimum prices are set incorrectly.
Base Price: Your Strategic Intent
Your base price reflects how you choose to position your property in the market. It should:
- Be anchored in costs, not emotions
- Be informed by market demand and performance
- Be reviewed frequently, not set once and forgotten
Irene Bernini noted that many owners and real estate professionals set their base prices emotionally:“This is a luxury apartment, so it must be worth X.”
Her team instead:
- Starts with base costs
- Layers market demand on top
- Reviews base prices weekly
“If you’re using a revenue management system, you still need to regularly update your base price based on data - last year, the last 90 days, the next 90 days, and so on. If your base is off, no algorithm can fully rescue your strategy.” Zak Ali
Minimum Price: Your Profit Safety Net
Your minimum price is not a tool for chasing occupancy at any cost. It’s your profitability line. As Noemi Oreglia pointed out:
- Don’t lower your minimum below the point where you’re no longer profitable
- There’s no victory in “lots of bookings” that make you no money
- Revenue tools may suggest reducing your minimum, but your cost structure should lead that decision
Mrinalini Sharma added that strong partners keep their minimum floors firm to avoid devaluing their homes over time.
3. When to Change Your Prices: Reading the Market Signals
Understanding when to adjust your prices or ease restrictions begins with a clear grasp of booking pace - a metric the entire panel agreed is one of the strongest market indicators. Monitoring weekly pickup allows you to identify periods of strong demand, helping you raise prices when your property is filling faster than the market, and to diagnose issues when you’re lagging behind, prompting a review of photos, reviews, base price, and stay restrictions.
It’s equally important to align your strategy with the true booking lead time, which varies significantly by guest type, location, and season. This ensures your pricing, minimum-stay rules, and cancellation policies match the way your audience actually books.
Comparing your occupancy to that of the wider market can also reveal whether your approach is too rigid; if the destination is gaining momentum and you’re not, it’s a strong sign that increased flexibility is needed.
To gain a complete picture, use multiple booking pace perspectives - including year-over-year trends, performance against your targets, and a 90-day forecast - and assess the real impact of your pricing decisions by comparing rate changes with shifts in demand.
4. Automation vs. Human Touch: Finding the Sweet Spot
AI and automation are now present across all areas of hospitality operations, and this panel made one point unmistakably clear: you need both the engine and the driver.
Here are the key takeaways that highlight how automation and human expertise should work together:
- Automation excels at scale: It can process millions of data points quickly and pinpoint where performance is strong or where it’s beginning to slip.
- Human strategy remains essential: Only people truly understand the business model, owner objectives, guest nuances, and the broader vision.
- Automate the repetitive, data-heavy tasks: Functions such as pricing suggestions, availability checks, and performance reporting are ideal for automation.
- Keep the human touch where it matters most: Guest experience, escalations, empathy, and emotional intelligence are areas where human judgement is irreplaceable.
Automation scales you. Human intelligence differentiates you.
5. Premium Pricing Requires Premium Storytelling
Many hosts assume, “If I want to be high-end, I’ll simply raise my price.” All three panellists were clear: that approach doesn’t work.
The key takeaways on achieving premium pricing are simple: raising rates alone won’t position a property as high-end - you must create genuine value first. Begin by designing a thoughtful guest journey, adding real value at every touchpoint, and only then attaching the price tag once the experience truly supports it. Continuously refine that experience based on guest feedback.
Premium pricing also demands premium presentation: high-quality photography, compelling yet honest descriptions, and clear visibility of amenities and extras such as transfers, welcome packs, or concierge services.
Transparency is essential; guests want clarity, not surprises. If a property involves five flights of stairs with no lift, say so. Honest expectations build trust; and trust is what genuinely justifies a premium.
7. Reviews: The Revenue Lever You Can’t Ignore
Reviews aren’t just vanity metrics; they have a direct impact on your revenue, and you can’t afford to overlook them.
A Beyond study of 3,000 units found that a single 1-star review on an otherwise highly rated listing can slow booking pace by 20–25% for up to seven weeks. The causes are clear: lower ranking, reduced guest trust, and stronger appeal from competitors. This is why swift action matters, and why dynamic pricing models are increasingly factoring in review-driven slowdowns automatically.
Reviews should function as a continuous feedback loop: regular audits, rapid intervention when scores slip, corrective action where necessary, and even delisting when standards can’t be restored. Ongoing analysis of review keywords also helps ensure listings remain aligned with guest expectations.
The financial impact is undeniable. Data from a 5,000-unit study showed that every 0.1 increase in review score adds roughly £2.80 to ADR, while a jump from 4.6 to 5.0 generates around £3,700 more per year per property. Across a modest portfolio, that can exceed £100,000 in additional revenue.
In short: reviews don’t just shape perception; they shape pricing power.
Final Takeaways from the Panel
The session concluded with three key messages for property managers and hosts:
- Be flexible and data-driven: set clear objectives - whether revenue, profit, or growth - and track the KPIs that truly matter. Then iterate continuously.
- Align your pricing with your online presentation:
Premium pricing requires premium imagery, transparent descriptions, and a well-crafted narrative around your listing. - Embrace automation, but don’t outsource judgement:
Let automation handle the heavy data work, while humans lead on strategy, relationships, and guest experience.
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