A hotel competitive set is useful only when it is built for a specific decision. The hotels used to benchmark room performance may not be the same properties a group buyer considers for meeting space, and neither list has to match the hotels competing for wedding business.
CoStar's STR Benchmark glossary defines a comp set as hotels a property competes against for business, typically with geographic, service, and amenity similarities. CoStar also notes that comp-set information is reported in aggregate rather than exposing an individual competitor's proprietary performance data.
Start with the decision
Write down the question before selecting a property:
- Are we benchmarking historical room performance?
- Are we comparing public rates for specific stay dates?
- Are we evaluating group and meeting alternatives?
- Are we reviewing guest positioning and amenities?
- Are we planning a renovation, repositioning, or new market entry?
Record the market, customer segment, stay or event dates, observation window, and owner of the analysis. This prevents the comp set from becoming an inherited list with no documented purpose.
Build a wide candidate list
Start broader than the final set. Candidate sources can include:
- properties guests mention during sales conversations;
- hotels appearing for the same dates and filters in booking channels;
- properties with similar service and amenity scope;
- hotels competing for comparable group or event requirements;
- existing revenue-management or benchmarking sets; and
- alternatives identified by local sales and revenue teams.
Do not add a property merely because it is nearby or aspirational. Write down why a buyer would realistically compare it with the subject hotel.
Copyable comp set scorecard
Score each criterion using a documented scale, such as 0 = not comparable, 1 = partly comparable, and 2 = strongly comparable.
| Candidate hotel | Geography for this decision | Service and amenities | Room/product fit | Rate-position evidence | Segment overlap | Meeting/group fit | Evidence and date | | --------------- | --------------------------: | --------------------: | ---------------: | ---------------------: | --------------: | ----------------: | ----------------- | | Property A | | | | | | | | | Property B | | | | | | | | | Property C | | | | | | | |
The score supports judgment; it does not replace it. Keep the written evidence, source, stay dates, room type, cancellation terms, inclusions, and observation date beside each conclusion.
CoStar's comp-set selection guidance specifically recommends looking beyond proximity and considering characteristics such as class, room count, and meeting space.
Separate different competitive sets
One hotel may need several named sets:
- Performance set: historical room-performance benchmarking.
- Public rate set: comparable public offers for defined dates and conditions.
- Group and meetings set: hotels a planner could substitute for the same program.
- Guest consideration set: properties appearing for similar traveler needs.
- Aspirational set: properties used for long-term positioning, clearly separated from current direct competitors.
Do not blend an aspirational set into operational performance reporting without labeling it. The comparison can become misleading even when every individual data point is correct.
Collect comparable public rate observations
A public rate snapshot should include:
- observation timestamp and time zone;
- stay dates and length of stay;
- occupancy requested;
- room type;
- cancellation and payment terms;
- taxes and fees treatment;
- breakfast, parking, resort fees, or other inclusions;
- channel and source URL; and
- sold-out or unavailable status.
Publicly displayed availability is a dated observation, not proof of a competitor's occupancy, strategy, or future rate. Avoid presenting inferred private performance as fact.
Understand MPI, ARI, and RGI
CoStar publishes the definitions and formulas for the standard competitive indexes in its STR Benchmark glossary:
| Index | Formula | Interpretation | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | MPI / occupancy index | Subject occupancy ÷ aggregate comparison occupancy × 100 | Occupancy performance relative to the aggregate group | | ARI / ADR index | Subject ADR ÷ aggregate comparison ADR × 100 | Average-rate performance relative to the aggregate group | | RGI / RevPAR index | Subject RevPAR ÷ aggregate comparison RevPAR × 100 | RevPAR performance relative to the aggregate group |
An index of 100 means the subject equals the aggregate comparison on that measure. Above or below 100 describes relative performance; it does not explain the cause.
Turn observations into questions, not automatic rate changes
When a competitor's public rate changes, investigate before responding:
- Is the room type and cancellation policy comparable?
- Did availability or package inclusions change?
- Is a renovation, event, group block, or distribution issue visible?
- Is the change isolated to one date or repeated across the booking window?
- What does the hotel's own pace, forecast, and remaining inventory show?
Matching a competitor automatically can destroy useful price differentiation or follow a signal unrelated to your demand.
Review for comp set drift
Schedule a review and log changes rather than silently replacing hotels. Revisit the set when:
- a property opens, closes, converts brand, or completes a material renovation;
- the subject hotel changes service level, inventory, or market position;
- meeting-space or amenity scope changes;
- the target segment changes; or
- buyer behavior repeatedly identifies different alternatives.
For every addition or removal, record the date, reason, approver, and impact on historical comparability.
Research method and limitations
This guide uses public CoStar/STR definitions for comp sets and index formulas, then provides a HotelAmplify-authored selection worksheet. It does not claim that the scorecard is an STR standard, does not expose individual competitor performance, and does not prescribe a universal radius, rate band, set size, or review threshold.