STR Report for Hotels: What It Is and How to Use It
Most hotel managers track their own occupancy, ADR and RevPAR. Fewer know whether those numbers are actually good for their market.
An STR report — also known as a hotel STAR report — gives you that context. A 75% occupancy rate looks strong until you find out every competitor in your market is running at 85%. Without comparative data, you’re making pricing and strategy decisions based on your own numbers alone.
This guide covers what an STR report is, what it measures, how to get one, how to read the key metrics, and how to turn the data into decisions.
What is an STR report for hotels?
An STR report for hotels is a standardized benchmarking report that compares a hotel’s performance against a selected group of competing properties and the broader market. It is produced by STR Inc. (originally Smith Travel Research), a hotel analytics company founded in 1985 and recognized as the global standard in hotel benchmarking.
The report is sometimes called a hotel STAR report — STAR standing for Smith Travel Accommodations Report. The terms STR report and STAR report are used interchangeably in the industry. They refer to the same tool.
STR collects performance data from thousands of hotels worldwide and turns it into standardized comparisons showing how your hotel’s key metrics — occupancy, average daily rate (ADR), and revenue per available room (RevPAR) — stack up against your competitors and the broader market.
Read more about:
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What does an STR report help you do?
The STR report for hotels is primarily a competitive intelligence tool. It helps hotel managers and revenue teams:
- Benchmark occupancy, ADR and RevPAR against a defined competitive set
- Understand whether performance changes are property-specific or market-wide
- Set realistic targets based on what similar hotels actually achieve
- Make pricing decisions grounded in market data, not intuition
- Measure the impact of renovations, promotions, rebranding or new distribution channels
- Prepare budgets and forecasts with objective, industry-sourced data
- Report performance to owners or asset managers with credible external benchmarks
A key point: the STR report doesn’t just confirm what you already know. It shows you where you’re losing market share — and to whom.
You may also be interested in: Average daily rate (ADR): how to calculate it and optimize pricing
Who provides the STR report and how is it produced?
STR Inc. is the company behind the hotel STAR report. Founded in 1985, it operates as the hospitality industry’s primary source of performance benchmarking data, covering markets across the globe.
Hotels that participate in STR submit their own performance data — occupancy, ADR, and total room revenue — on a regular basis. STR aggregates that data, anonymizes it, and uses it to generate comparative reports for all participating properties. Your data contributes to the market; the market data comes back to you in the form of benchmarks.
This mutual data-sharing model is what makes the report credible. No single hotel can see a competitor’s raw data, but all participants benefit from aggregated market intelligence.
How to get an STR report for your hotel
Getting access to a hotel STAR report is a three-step process:
Step 1: Apply at str.com Go to str.com and request a demo through the Data Solutions section. STR will contact you to walk you through the setup.
Step 2: Submit your data To qualify, you’ll need to agree to submit regular performance data to STR: occupancy rate, ADR, and total room revenue. This is what makes participation work — you share data, you get data.
Step 3: Set up your compset and access your reports Once your account is live, you’ll select your competitive set (compset) and choose your reporting frequency. Reports are typically available weekly, monthly, or annually. Basic monthly reports carry a modest subscription cost; more detailed or high-frequency reports are priced accordingly.
Upon setup, you receive 18 months of historical data, including year-on-year comparisons, year-to-date performance, and rolling 3- and 12-month metrics.
What makes a good compset?
Your compset — the competitive set used for benchmarking — is the foundation of a useful STR report. An optimal compset includes 3 to 5 hotels that share similar characteristics with your property:
- Same geographic market or neighborhood
- Similar room count and star category
- Comparable pricing and guest profile
If your compset isn’t relevant, your benchmarks won’t be either. The good news: you can update your compset between reporting periods, so there’s no need to get it perfect immediately.
Key metrics in a hotel STR report
The STR report for hotels tracks three core KPIs, plus a set of index scores that show how your performance compares to your compset.
1. Occupancy rate (Occ)
Occupancy measures the percentage of available rooms your hotel fills during a given period.
Formula: Occupancy = (Rooms Occupied ÷ Rooms Available) × 100
A higher occupancy rate means more rooms generating revenue, but occupancy alone is not a complete picture. A hotel running at 95% occupancy but at rates well below its competitors may be leaving significant revenue on the table.
2. Average daily rate (ADR)
ADR measures the average revenue earned per occupied room.
Formula: ADR = Total Room Revenue ÷ Total Rooms Sold
ADR tells you how well your pricing strategy is working. Used alongside occupancy, it reveals whether you’re growing revenue by filling more rooms, charging more per room, or both.
For context: STR data showed the average ADR across US hotels in March 2024 was $159.79, with Miami’s top-performing market reaching $284.14.
3. Revenue per available room (RevPAR)
RevPAR combines occupancy and ADR into a single figure that reflects how efficiently your hotel generates revenue from its total room inventory.
Formula: RevPAR = ADR × Occupancy Rate
RevPAR is typically the first number revenue managers look at. It’s the clearest single indicator of overall revenue performance — rising RevPAR generally means you’re either filling more rooms, charging more, or both.
4. Index scores: MPI, ARI and RGI
Beyond the three core metrics, the hotel STAR report includes index scores that show your performance relative to your compset. These are the numbers that reveal whether you’re winning or losing market share.
| Index | What it measures | Full name |
|---|---|---|
| MPI | Occupancy performance vs. compset | Market Penetration Index |
| ARI | ADR performance vs. compset | Average Rate Index |
| RGI | RevPAR performance vs. compset | Revenue Generation Index |
How to read index scores:
- Score above 100: you’re outperforming your compset on that metric
- Score of 100: you’re performing at par with your compset
- Score below 100: your compset is outperforming you on that metric
A hotel with an RGI of 115 is generating 15% more RevPAR than the average of its competitive set. A hotel at 88 is underperforming by 12% — and needs to understand why.
How to read a hotel STAR report: step by step
Reading an STR report for the first time can feel overwhelming. Here’s a practical approach:
1. Start with the trend view, not the snapshot. A single week or month of data doesn’t tell you much. Look at 12-month rolling trends to identify patterns — is your RevPAR index improving over time, or eroding?
2. Check your index scores before your raw numbers. Your occupancy might be up 5%, but if the market is up 10%, you’re losing share. The index scores are more revealing than the raw metrics in isolation.
3. Identify where you’re losing: rate or occupancy? If your MPI is above 100 but your ARI is below 100, you’re filling rooms but pricing them too low. If the reverse is true, you’re pricing well but not competing on availability or distribution effectively enough.
4. Look at year-over-year, not just month-over-month. Seasonality distorts month-on-month comparisons. Year-over-year comparison at the same period gives you a cleaner read of whether performance is genuinely improving.
5. Act on the data, don’t just file the report. An STR report is only useful if it informs a decision — a pricing adjustment, a distribution change, a package launch. Hotels that review their STAR report weekly and adjust strategy accordingly perform better than those who check it monthly and take no action.
STR report metrics: quick reference
| Metric | Formula | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Occupancy (Occ) | Rooms Occupied ÷ Rooms Available × 100 | How full your hotel is |
| ADR | Total Room Revenue ÷ Rooms Sold | Average price per occupied room |
| RevPAR | ADR × Occupancy | Revenue efficiency across all rooms |
| MPI | Your Occ ÷ Compset Occ × 100 | Occupancy vs. competitors |
| ARI | Your ADR ÷ Compset ADR × 100 | Pricing vs. competitors |
| RGI | Your RevPAR ÷ Compset RevPAR × 100 | Overall revenue share vs. competitors |
Can independent and small hotels use the STR report?
Yes. Many independent hotels assume benchmarking tools are built for chains. The hotel STAR report is available to properties of any size, and for independent hotels, the value is arguably greater — because they don’t have brand-level data to fall back on.
A boutique hotel competing in a market with multiple branded properties needs to know exactly how it performs on pricing and occupancy relative to those competitors. That’s precisely what the STR report provides.
Frequently asked questions about STR reports for hotels
STR stands for Smith Travel Research, a hotel analytics company founded in 1985. It produces the hotel STAR report — Smith Travel Accommodations Report — which is the industry standard benchmarking tool. The company is now part of CoStar Group.
They are the same tool. STR report refers to the company (STR Inc.) that produces it. STAR report refers to the full name: Smith Travel Accommodations Report. Both terms are used interchangeably across the hotel industry.
STR reports are typically available weekly, monthly, or annually depending on your subscription. Daily updates are available at higher subscription levels. Most revenue managers review the weekly report to track performance in near real-time.
An RGI (Revenue Generation Index) above 100 means your hotel generates more RevPAR than the average of your competitive set. A score between 100 and 110 is generally considered healthy. Scores consistently above 115 indicate strong market dominance. Scores below 90 signal an underperformance gap that warrants strategic review.
Your compset should include 3 to 5 hotels with similar location, star category, price range, and guest profile. A poorly chosen compset produces benchmarks that aren’t relevant to your actual competitive situation. You can update your compset between reporting periods as your market evolves.
No. Hotels must subscribe to access STR reports. Pricing varies based on report frequency, level of detail, and market scope. A basic monthly STAR report carries a modest subscription fee. Access requires participating in data sharing — you submit your own performance data to receive market benchmarks in return.
No. STR aggregates data from all participating properties but does not reveal individual hotel figures. The comparative data reflects the anonymized average of your compset, not the raw numbers from any single competitor.
How the guest experience connects to your STR performance
Your STR report shows how your hotel performs on RevPAR, ADR and occupancy relative to competitors. What it doesn’t show is what drives those numbers at the property level.
Hotels with strong online reviews consistently command higher ADR and higher occupancy. Guests pay more for better-rated properties, and those ratings are shaped by the experience from the very first moment — including check-in.
A slow, paper-based arrival process is one of the most common sources of negative first impressions. It’s also one of the easiest to fix.
Chekin automates the check-in process for hotels and short-term rental properties: guest data collection, identity verification, contract signing, and traveler registration with authorities all happen before the guest arrives. No queues at reception. No manual paperwork. Guests complete everything from their phone in under two minutes.
Conclusion
The STR report for hotels gives you data that your own PMS can’t: how your performance compares to the market. That context is what turns a number into a decision.
Reviewing your hotel STAR report consistently, tracking index trends over time, and adjusting pricing and distribution based on real competitive data is what separates hotels that grow market share from those that lose it without noticing.
