Most Common Gap Nights in Short-Term Rentals (2025 Data)

Source

AirDNA Most Common Gap Nights in Short-Term Rentals (2025 Data)

What It Says

Every open calendar gap represents lost revenue. To understand these patterns, AirDNA analyzed 2025 checkout data from full-time short-term rental (STR) hosts across the 50 largest US markets. The research reveals that the most common gap night across the country is a single open Sunday. This "lone Sunday" occurs when a weekend guest checks out and the next guest does not check in until Monday, making it the top calendar gap in 32 of the 50 analyzed markets.

The study categorizes gaps into distinct types:

Single Nights (Orphan Nights): One open night stranded between two bookings.
Empty Midweeks: Three to five open weeknights (typically Sunday through Thursday) between weekend bookings.
Back-to-Back: Stays with zero gap nights between checkout and check-in.

Why It Matters

Calendar gaps behave differently based on market type, seasonality, and property size. Understanding these variations allows operators to move away from flat pricing and implement targeted dynamic rules:

Market Type Dictates Gap Profiles: Leisure-focused getaway markets (mountains, lakes) suffer from empty midweeks because they rely heavily on weekend trips. Conversely, high-occupancy urban markets (like Boston and San Jose) experience mostly single-night gaps because business and leisure travel blend together.
Seasonality Lengthens Gaps: As markets transition from peak to low seasons, back-to-back bookings drop, and short gaps stretch into empty midweeks or long vacancies of eight nights or more.
Larger Properties Struggle Midweek: Homes with 4–5 bedrooms face significantly more empty midweek gaps than 0–2 bedroom properties, as larger groups rarely travel during the workweek.

Useful Signals

The Sunday Opportunity: Sunday nights are highly vulnerable. Operators should target Sunday-specific discounts or adjust minimum stay rules to allow Sunday check-ins/check-outs.
Urban vs. Destination Rules: In high-occupancy cities like San Jose or Boston, where nearly 40% of gaps are single nights, hosts must lower minimum-stay restrictions for orphan nights. In mountain destinations like Big Bear, where over 36% of gaps are empty midweeks, weekday-specific tier discounting is required.
The Hawaii Exception: In long-stay markets like Maui and Oahu, empty midweeks are rare (5% to 6%). Gaps are almost exclusively single nights caused by misaligned check-in days. Hosts here should focus entirely on automated orphan-night discounts regardless of the day of the week.

STR Tech Report Take

This data highlights why static minimum-stay policies are a major revenue leak. STR technology vendors and dynamic pricing platforms must continue to refine automated "gap-filler" rules.

Rather than relying on generic discounts, pricing algorithms should automatically detect whether a property is a large home in a getaway market (requiring aggressive midweek weekday discounts) or a small condo in an urban hub (requiring automated single-night minimum overrides). Operators who align their dynamic pricing and minimum-stay rules with their specific market's seasonal gap profile will capture yield that competitors leave on the table.

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