Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Breakeven occupancy
37.3%
Breakeven room-nights
1,343
Contribution margin per room
$108.00
Margin of safety at 100% occupancy
62.7%
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How to use this
- 1Enter monthly fixed costs ($).
- 2Enter total rooms.
- 3Enter days in month.
- 4Enter adr ($).
- 5Enter variable cost per occupied room ($).
- 6Read your breakeven occupancy on the right — it updates as you type.
- 7Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Every hotel has a fixed monthly cost load — debt service, insurance, base staffing, property tax, management fee minimums — that has to be covered regardless of how many rooms sell. Breakeven occupancy is the occupancy percentage at which room revenue exactly covers fixed costs plus the variable cost of each occupied room (housekeeping, guest supplies, utilities tied to occupancy). Below this line the property loses money even with positive ADR; above it, every incremental room sold drops mostly to profit since fixed costs are already covered. This calculator takes your monthly fixed costs, ADR, and variable cost per occupied room to compute both the breakeven occupancy percentage and how many room-nights that represents.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Monthly fixed costs: 145000 $
- Total rooms: 120
- Days in month: 30
- ADR: 140 $
- Variable cost per occupied room: 32 $
Results
- Breakeven occupancy: 37.3%
- Breakeven room-nights: 1,343
- Contribution margin per room: $108.00
- Margin of safety at 100% occupancy: 62.7%
What each field means
Inputs
- Monthly fixed costs ($)
- The monthly fixed costs used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 145000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Total rooms
- The total rooms used in the calculation. Starts at 120 so you have a working example on load.
- Days in month
- The days in month used in the calculation. Starts at 30 so you have a working example on load.
- ADR ($)
- The adr used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 140 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Variable cost per occupied room ($)
- The variable cost per occupied room used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 32 $ so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Breakeven occupancy
- Returned as a percentage and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Breakeven room-nights
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Contribution margin per room
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Margin of safety at 100% occupancy
- Returned as a percentage. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What counts as a fixed cost in this calculation?
Debt service, property insurance, real estate tax, base management fee, and the minimum staffing levels required to open the doors regardless of occupancy — front desk, night audit, basic security. These don't scale down meaningfully even at very low occupancy.
What's a realistic breakeven occupancy for a hotel?
Most limited-service hotels break even somewhere between 35% and 50% occupancy depending on leverage and ADR. Heavily-financed, newly built properties with high debt service can run breakeven closer to 55-60%, which is a dangerous place to be in a soft demand cycle.
How does ADR affect breakeven occupancy more than you'd expect?
Because breakeven occupancy is inversely related to the contribution margin (ADR minus variable cost), a $10 ADR increase on a $140 rate with $32 variable cost raises contribution margin by roughly 9%, which lowers breakeven occupancy by nearly that same percentage — rate moves breakeven faster than volume does.
Should variable cost per room include commissions?
Yes if a meaningful share of bookings come through OTAs. A property paying 18% OTA commission on a $140 ADR room is losing about $25 of that room's revenue before variable service costs are even counted, which materially raises the true breakeven point.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Hotel RevPAR Calculator
Revenue per available room from occupancy and ADR, or from room revenue directly.
Hotel GOPPAR Calculator
Gross operating profit per available room — the profitability answer RevPAR can't give.
OTA Commission vs Direct Booking Calculator
See what an OTA booking really nets you versus a direct reservation.
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Hotel Breakeven Occupancy Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/hotel-breakeven-occupancy
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/hotel-breakeven-occupancy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hotel Breakeven Occupancy Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Hotel Breakeven Occupancy Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/hotel-breakeven-occupancy) (2026).