An owner can hold dates in their own property by closing them on the calendar first. The main cost is not the clean but the nights that would have sold, about 5.9 for a seven-night block at our average occupancy.
The figures were measured on 1 October 2026 across the twelve months from October 2025 to September 2026 at our own three buildings and six rooms in Tokyo and Sapporo, 489 bookings, and are published with the method at operating data. They describe our rooms and are not a promise for anyone else's.
How does an owner stay in a property someone else manages?
There are three steps: the owner gives the dates, the operator closes them on every booking site, and keys and cleaning are arranged the way they would be for a guest. A date left open on one site is how double bookings happen, so closing them is the operator's job.
We ask owners to keep to the guest checkout time. About two checkouts in three at our rooms are followed by an arrival the same day, and the clean has to fit between 11:00 and 16:00. Whether a stay is allowed in the legal sense varies by property, and who to ask is listed further down.
How many nights of sales does a week in your own rental stop?
At our average occupancy of 83.7%, a seven-night block stops about 5.9 nights of sales. The sum is seven nights times occupancy, and the same week comes out differently depending on the month.
Within one city the gap is 2.5 nights between Tokyo's October and September, and 1.8 between Sapporo's February and November. If your dates can move, choosing a quiet month does more than anything else. These are monthly averages and say nothing about rates: New Year and the holiday weeks also sell at higher prices, so a block there costs more than the night count suggests (how we set prices).
What would have reached you is smaller again. The 20% fee, cleaning at 17.0% and supplies at 4.4%, 41.4% together, are not incurred on a night that does not sell. That leaves 58.6% of 5.9 nights, about 3.4 nights of revenue, as a rough guide. It leaves out platform commission, and one clean after your stay still applies.
| Month of the stay | Occupancy | Sales stopped by seven nights |
|---|---|---|
| Our twelve-month average | 83.7% | About 5.9 nights |
| Tokyo, October 2025 (highest) | 95.2% | About 6.7 nights |
| Tokyo, December 2025 | 78.5% | About 5.5 nights |
| Tokyo, September 2026 (lowest) | 60.0% | About 4.2 nights |
| Sapporo, February 2026 (highest) | 94.0% | About 6.6 nights |
| Sapporo, December 2025 | 87.1% | About 6.1 nights |
| Sapporo, November 2025 (lowest) | 68.3% | About 4.8 nights |
| Tokyo and Sapporo, August 2026 | 89.2% | About 6.2 nights |
How early should you tell the manager?
More than six weeks before the stay is the guide, and earlier is safer. Our median gap between booking and arrival is 42 days, so six weeks out, half of that week's bookings are already in (booking lead time).
At 3.3 nights a stay and 83.7% occupancy, about 1.8 bookings arrive in an average seven days. Six weeks out, about 0.9 of them, nearly one whole booking, is already on the calendar. We do not publish the distribution beyond 42 days, so three months out is not a guarantee either. The calendar of the property itself is the real answer.
Holding uncertain dates also stops sales. Close them as soon as the trip is fixed, and reopen them as soon as it falls through. The sooner either message arrives, the fewer nights are lost.
What if a guest has already booked the dates you want?
We keep the booking and start by looking for a way to move the owner's dates. The guest has already committed flights and leave to the trip.
We check whether a shift of a few days opens a clear stretch and, for owners with more than one room, whether another room is free. How a host cancellation is treated depends on each booking site's terms, which change, so we would read the current terms before deciding anything.
Who pays for cleaning and supplies?
With us, an owner's stay earns no revenue, so the 20% fee does not apply, and cleaning and supplies are charged at cost. Our fee is 20% of revenue plus actual cleaning and supply costs, and only the second half is left.
The room is already clean from the previous guest's checkout. One clean follows your stay, along with one round of linen and supplies. A stay also works as an inspection: you spend the same hours in the room a guest does, and whatever you notice about noise or the plumbing goes into the listing and the upkeep.
| Item | Does it arise? | How we treat it |
|---|---|---|
| Management fee | No, there is no revenue | Not charged |
| Clean after the stay | Once | At cost |
| Linen and supplies | One round | At cost |
| Utilities | As usual | Per the contract holder |
What should you ask the authorities and your advisers?
How an owner's stay is treated varies by property and municipality, so instead of a rule, here is who to ask and what. In Japan the permit for a licensed rental is issued by the local public health centre (hokenjo), which makes it the first call. Ask these before you go.
| Ask | Question |
|---|---|
| The health centre that issued the permit | If the permit holder or family stay without paying, is a guest register entry or any notice needed? |
| An administrative scrivener (gyoseishoshi) | If the permit is in a company's name, how is a stay by its director or relatives treated? |
| The municipal tax office | Does lodging tax apply to a stay with no charge? |
| A tax accountant | Do days of own use change how expenses are apportioned? |
| The insurer or agent | Is an accident during a period of own use, with sales stopped, covered? |
What belongs in the contract?
Four things, in the contract or a side letter: the notice deadline, whether there is an annual cap on days, which comes first when dates clash with a booking, and who bears cleaning and supplies. The whole document is covered in reading a management contract.
If the contract has a monthly minimum fee, check whether it applies to blocked days. In monthly reports, check whether blocked days stay in the occupancy denominator. Taking them out lifts the percentage, so read it next to the nights actually sold.
How do we settle your dates if we run the property?
We ask at the start how many nights a year you want, and settle that with the notice deadline for each property. Every night you use is one we cannot sell, so it belongs in the conversation before signing.
If you plan to use the place often enough that few sellable days remain, handing it to an operator may not suit you, and we will say so once we have run the numbers. The occupancy and nights here are from our own six rooms and are not a promise for any other property.