Every year, we review the data behind our vacation rental program—not just bookings, but how guests are finding homes, how often they’re returning, and how they’re engaging online. The results below highlight the homes that stood out in 2025 and the performance signals that matter most for long-term success.
Most Guest Bookings
High booking volume reflects strong demand, competitive positioning, and visibility over time. In many cases, flexible stay options also play a role by allowing homes to capture additional demand outside traditional week-long stays—particularly during shoulder seasons or lower-compression periods.
Most Repeat Guests
Repeat guests are one of the strongest indicators of long-term success. They reduce marketing friction, increase booking confidence, and often lead to steady performance year over year. This category highlights homes that consistently deliver a guest experience that brings people back.
Most Viral and Most Views
This category reflects the impact of digital engagement. When a home resonates visually or emotionally, it can gain traction beyond traditional search traffic. Strong social performance not only benefits the featured home—it also increases overall brand awareness and drives new interest across our inventory. Learn more about how you can establish a social presence for your home in our How to Showcase Your Vacation Rental on Social Media post.
Most Five-Star Reviews
Reviews play an important role in long-term performance, not just from a marketing perspective, but as a feedback loop. While our team manages review responses on behalf of our homeowners, we encourage owners to read guest feedback closely and work with us when opportunities for improvement are identified. When changes are made based on guest suggestions, we’re able to reflect those updates in our responses—showing future guests that feedback is heard, acted on, and taken seriously.
Most Occupied
High occupancy is a strong signal that a home is pricing well for its market, meeting guest demand, and staying competitive throughout the year—not just during peak season.
Longest Engagement Time
Time-on-page is a powerful indicator of guest interest. Longer engagement often means guests are reviewing photos carefully, reading amenities and details, and seriously considering booking. This kind of engagement supports higher conversion potential and signals a strong listing experience.
What This Means for Owners
These results highlight something important: there’s no single path to success. Some homes excel through repeat guests, others through high visibility, strong occupancy, or online engagement—but they all benefit from consistent marketing, smart positioning, and great guest experiences.
Much of this performance is driven by demand created at the brand level, not by any single promotion or channel. If you’re interested in a deeper look at how this approach supports visibility, demand, and long-term results across our inventory, you can read more in our recent post on the power of brand-level marketing for your OBX vacation rental.
Our role is to create demand at scale and support strong performance across the portfolio. Owners play a key role by keeping homes guest-ready, photos current, and property details accurate. Together, that’s what drives results like these.