Malta short let seasonality, measured across 22 listings over 12 months.
Most owners assume a Maltese short let is empty in winter. Across our own portfolio that is not what happens. The properties stay close to full all year. What collapses is the nightly rate. Every figure below comes from our own booking records for the twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026, not from market estimates.
What the portfolio actually did.
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | RevPAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 87.0% | EUR 124.20 | EUR 108.00 |
| Oct 2025 | 90.2% | EUR 98.60 | EUR 88.90 |
| Nov 2025 | 77.7% | EUR 71.60 | EUR 55.70 |
| Dec 2025 | 71.0% | EUR 66.90 | EUR 47.50 |
| Jan 2026 | 72.3% | EUR 61.70 | EUR 44.60 |
| Feb 2026 | 74.8% | EUR 69.30 | EUR 51.90 |
| Mar 2026 | 80.2% | EUR 70.40 | EUR 56.50 |
| Apr 2026 | 87.7% | EUR 97.00 | EUR 85.10 |
| May 2026 | 91.3% | EUR 111.40 | EUR 101.80 |
| Jun 2026 | 86.7% | EUR 113.40 | EUR 98.30 |
| Jul 2026 | 88.9% | EUR 143.80 | EUR 127.80 |
| Aug 2026 | 91.1% | EUR 155.70 | EUR 141.70 |
22 listings across Malta, live and bookable for the full period. 6,688 booked nights of 8,030 available. Annual occupancy 83.3 percent. Annual RevPAR EUR 84.21. ADR is the nightly rate only, before platform commission, excluding cleaning fees, taxes and the eco contribution.
The winter problem is not empty nights. It is cheap nights.
Look at the two columns separately and the year splits into two very different stories.
1.29x
Occupancy spread across the year, 71.0 percent to 91.3 percent
2.52x
ADR spread across the year, EUR 61.70 to EUR 155.70
3.18x
RevPAR spread, August against January
Occupancy moves by a factor of 1.29 between the best month and the worst. The nightly rate moves by a factor of 2.52. Multiply the two and you get the threefold swing in revenue per available night.
In other words, the beds fill in January. They fill at 72 percent, which is not far off April. What changes is that every one of those nights is sold at less than half the August price.
This matters because most owners respond to winter by dropping the rate further, on the assumption that the alternative is an empty property. The data says the demand is already there. Cutting further gives away margin on nights that would have sold anyway.
April and October are worth more than owners think.
April returned RevPAR of EUR 85.10 and October EUR 88.90. Both are close to double January, and October came within ten percent of June. These are the months owners mentally write off as off season and price on a default calendar set months earlier.
A good year and an average year are usually separated by six weeks in spring and six weeks in autumn, not by August. August largely takes care of itself.
The method, so you can judge the numbers.
- 22 listings across Malta, all live and bookable for the whole twelve month period. Properties onboarded partway through the year are excluded.
- The cohort includes whole apartments, houses and individual guest house rooms. RevPAR is measured per available night, which is how hotels compare mixed inventory.
- Occupancy is booked nights divided by available nights, where available nights are the full physical capacity of the cohort.
- ADR is accommodation revenue divided by booked nights. It is the nightly rate only, gross of platform commission, and excludes cleaning fees, extra guest fees, taxes and the eco contribution.
- RevPAR is accommodation revenue divided by available nights.
- Figures are drawn from our property management system, not from market survey data.
This is one portfolio, not the Maltese market. Localities, property types and management approach all move these numbers. Treat it as a real reference point rather than a benchmark.
Straight answers.
January. Across our portfolio January 2026 returned RevPAR of EUR 44.60, the lowest of the twelve months, on 72.3 percent occupancy and an average nightly rate of EUR 61.70. December is close behind at EUR 47.50.
August. RevPAR of EUR 141.70 on 91.1 percent occupancy and an average rate of EUR 155.70. July is the second strongest at EUR 127.80.
Revenue per available night in August ran at about 3.2 times January across our portfolio. Almost all of that gap is nightly rate rather than occupancy.
Not in our experience. The lowest occupancy month in the last twelve was December at 71.0 percent. Winter demand in Malta is real, driven by long stays, contractors, relocations and off season visitors. The rate is what falls, not the bookings.
Our cohort averaged 83.3 percent across twelve months. That figure depends heavily on pricing strategy, minimum stay rules and how quickly enquiries are answered, so treat it as what active management can achieve rather than a market default.
If you can be live before April you catch the spring ramp and build reviews ahead of the summer peak, which is when reviews are worth the most. A property that lists in September spends its first months building a review history in the weakest part of the year.
Ask us what your property would do in January.
A photo and an address is enough to start. If it is not a fit, we will say so the same day and tell you who to speak to instead.