This Week’s News & Insights

Good morning,

Here's what's going on in the vacation rental world this week:

Wander just raised $50M to turbocharge its luxury STR empire, Booking.com is in hot water as a European class action lawsuit targets billions in commission clawbacks, and Roami—the STR startup managing 500+ units—files for bankruptcy after raising $29M.

This week in the markets: Mortgage rates stayed just below 7% as economic signals remained mixed. On the local policy side, Spain’s proposed a 21% VAT that would hit STRs harder than hotels, Vail might raise taxes on STRs at the ballot box, and Dana Point is tightening enforcement while streamlining permits for compliant hosts.

Lets dive in. 

NEWS

Headline Roundup

• Booking.com’s European Class Action Lawsuit: Billions in Commissions Could Be at Stake (The Host Report)

• Q1 2025 Saw a Surge in OTA Ad Spend as Platforms Fight for Traveler Attention (Phocuswire)

• Wander Raises $50M: The Story Behind the Luxury STR Brand (The Host Report)

• Guest Spending Boosts US Economy by $90B in 2024 (Airbnb)

• STR Startup Roami Files for Bankruptcy After Raising $29M (Biz New Orleans)

• Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, Is Highest Paid Travel CEO ($44.8M): See The Rankings (Skift)

• Why Some Housing Markets Are Hot While Others Are Not (JBREC)

• Boom (AI PMS) Partners with ICND to Help Hosts Boost Direct Bookings (Travel Daily News)

INTERESTING INSIGHTS

New Podcast - The Best Thing I Heard This Week

Ashley Ching, Founder and CEO at Inhaven and Rachel Alday, Co-founder at Abode Luxury Rentals sat down to discuss what caused the financial distress at Vacasa and Aimbridge - two of the (formerly) largest and fastest growing hospitality property management companies. 

The conversation centered around Inhaven’s case study, interviewing over 30 hospitality executives to understand: 

• What makes for a successful property management business? 

• What quietly kills a property management business?

They found 6 key insights to successful property management:

1) A Curated Portfolio Minimizes Bad Apples

Mass acquisitions of new properties introduces too many underperforming assets, leading to operational distractions.

2) Fewer Property Owners

The number of owners—not just the number of properties—is a critical operational limiter. Each new owner brings unique demands, increasing friction and diluting focus, which slows decisions and weakens execution.

3) Similar Demand Drivers Simplifies Operations

Managing beach, mountain, and desert properties looks like diversification—but it often backfires. Different climates mean different peak seasons, guest behaviors, and maintenance demands. That breaks standardization, fractures team focus, and can kill the efficiencies that come with scale.

4) Empowered Teams Deliver Superior Hospitality

Team members with the “hospitality gene” need the autonomy to make decisions that lead to guest satisfaction.

5) Align Operations with Local Market Teams

Centralized systems—while efficient on paper—often ignore the nuances that make or break owner trust and guest satisfaction at the local level.

6) M&A Does Not Sustain Growth

Growth driven organically is good, but failing to deliver financial returns on aggressive acquisition strategies is a slippery slope.

You can listen to the full podcast here

MARKET INSIGHTS

Mortgage Rate Snapshot

30-year Mortgage rates stayed just below 7% over the past week, with only minor daily movement. Soft economic data and fading tariff concerns helped rates dip slightly midweek, reaching their lowest point by Friday—0.12% below the previous week. This week began with a small uptick, but conflicting labor data on Tuesday left rates effectively unchanged.

Regulations Update

• Spain proposes a 21% VAT on short-term rentals—more than double the 10% rate for hotels

• Dana Point, California streamlines permits for compliant operators while deploying technology to crack down on unlicensed rentals and enforce tax compliance

• Vail, Colorado surveying residents on new excise taxes for STRs, with potential ballot measure in November 2025 that could increase operating costs

See this weeks full regulations report here: (The Host Report)