Comp set (comparable set)
The specific properties a guest is actually choosing between when they choose yours — not simply the nearest listings.
A comp set is a judgement, not a radius. The right question is which listings appear in the same search a real guest runs, and which of those they would genuinely weigh against yours.
That usually means matching on the things a guest filters by before they ever see a photo: bedrooms and sleeping capacity, rough location, and the handful of amenities that are dealbreakers in your market — a pool in Florida, parking in a city, air conditioning in a hot climate.
It usually means ignoring proximity when the property is not substitutable. The four-bedroom with a heated pool two doors down is not your comp if you are a studio, and a listing a mile away with the same layout and rating usually is.
Comp sets go stale. Listings get renovated, ratings drift, new supply arrives. A set assembled a year ago and never revisited is quietly measuring the wrong market.
Where it goes wrong
Building the comp set out of the listings you admire rather than the ones you lose bookings to. Aspirational comps produce rates the market will not pay.
Related terms
- ADR (Average Daily Rate) — The average nightly rate actually paid across the nights you sold — it says nothing about the nights you did not sell.
- Dynamic pricing — Setting each night's rate from current demand rather than a fixed calendar — the discipline, not any particular tool.
- Occupancy rate — The share of your available nights that sold — accurate only if 'available' genuinely means bookable.