A small boutique property in Porto. We took over pricing on 15 September 2025, with almost the whole winter still unsold. From November to March, occupancy was 65.4% against 49.9% a year earlier, and room revenue was 19.5% higher.
The property is not named. Results are shown as percentages, against the same month a year earlier.
Starting Point
The winter before (November 2024 to March 2025) ran at 49.9% occupancy. January 2025 was at 21.2%.
When we started, October was already two-thirds full on the books, so its result was mostly decided. November to March were close to empty: November had 19.5% occupancy on the books, December 9.2%, January 6.5%, February and March about 2%.
We worked with the property until March 2026. So this is one winter, not three years.
What We Changed
- Winter rates cut by about a fifth in the first month (November to February, lowest room type). The rates loaded before we took over were set for more demand than Porto has in those months, so volume was missing.
- Room types renamed and ranked by quality on Booking.com, so the name and the price of each room follow what the guest actually gets.
- A price ladder per room type, based on how each one sold in 2025: occupancy, ADR and RevPAR, weekdays and weekends.
- Live dynamic pricing for every room type, steered by a revenue manager, with a calendar of Porto events and holidays.
- A weekly check of pickup against forecast and last year, so slow dates were spotted and repriced the same week.
Results
All figures: whole property, room revenue excluding VAT. Year before = the same month a year earlier.
| Month | Occupancy, year before | Occupancy, with us | ADR | Room revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov | 68.6% | 89.5% | -4.1% | +25.2% |
| Dec | 50.7% | 64.5% | -8.1% | +16.9% |
| Jan | 21.2% | 54.4% | -11.5% | +127.0% |
| Feb | 44.4% | 38.8% | -14.7% | -25.5% |
| Mar (OTB) | 64.5% | 77.9% | -10.6% | +7.9% |
| Nov to Mar | 49.9% | 65.4% | -8.8% | +19.5% |
Four of the five months beat the year before. January more than doubled. Over the five months: occupancy +15.5 points, room revenue +19.5%.
How Fast It Showed
The booking curve shows it best. On the day we started, November had 19.5% occupancy on the books. By 15 November it had 76.2%, already more than the whole of November 2024 (68.6%). By 1 December, December was already above the whole of December 2024. January was by 2 January.
| On the books on | November | December | January |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Sep (our start) | 19.5% | 9.2% | 6.5% |
| 14 Oct | 38.1% | 17.1% | 6.9% |
| 15 Nov | 76.2% | 37.8% | 12.4% |
| 1 Dec | 89.5% | 51.2% | 17.5% |
| 2 Jan | 64.5% | 35.0% | |
| 1 Feb | 54.4% | ||
| Year before, final | 68.6% | 50.7% | 21.2% |
Almost nine in ten of the winter room nights (November to March) were booked after we started.
The Trade-Off: ADR
ADR was 8.8% lower than a year before. That was a choice. The volume was missing, so we gave up some rate to win it back. In winter the problem was empty rooms, not price: a room sold at a lower rate still earns more than an empty room at a higher one. RevPAR, which counts both, was 19.5% higher.
In summer the same property needs the opposite: rate, not volume. Which lever to pull depends on the month, and the data tells you which one.
The Exception: February
February was the one month below the year before: room revenue -25.5%. It is one of the lowest-demand months in Porto, and the rates loaded for it before we took over were far too high. On 15 September it had 2.0% occupancy on the books, against 14.3% a year earlier. We cut its rates by about a fifth and by 1 February it had caught up (35.2% against 33.7%). The last four weeks then picked up about a third of what they did a year earlier, so the month still closed below.
March recovered. On 20 February it had 31.3% occupancy on the books, against 54.4% a year earlier. It closed at 77.9% (on the books as of 28 March), 13.4 points above March 2025.
What This Case Shows
- When the gap is occupancy, revenue management shows in the numbers within weeks, not years.
- A lower ADR is fine when it fills nights that would otherwise stay empty. Judge it by RevPAR, not by ADR alone.
- Not every month wins. February did not, and we show it.
This is how we work in Revenue & Pricing Management. Curious what next season could look like for your property? Book a free Performance Assessment Call.
Figures: whole property, room revenue excluding VAT, from the property’s PMS. November 2025 to February 2026 are actuals; March 2026 is on the books as of 28 March 2026. The booking curve table uses our daily snapshots. The February and March comparisons use booking and cancellation dates from the PMS export, for both years.