Budget a vacation rental stay.
Rental pricing compounds in a specific order and that order matters. The base rate times nights plus the cleaning fee forms the accommodation subtotal. The platform service fee is a percentage of that subtotal — so it applies to the cleaning fee too. Lodging tax is then usually charged on the subtotal plus the service fee, meaning you pay tax on a fee. Because each layer multiplies what came before, the total commonly lands 25 to 35 percent above the advertised nightly rate times nights. The effective cost per night is the only figure worth comparing between listings, since fee structures differ substantially between them.
Subtotal and fees
Subtotal = nightly x nights + cleaning fee; service fee = subtotal x service%
Tax and total
Tax = (subtotal + service fee) x tax%; total = subtotal + service fee + tax
Because the fees compound. The service fee is charged on the cleaning fee as well as the room, and lodging tax is charged on the service fee too. Three layers each applied to the previous total routinely push the final figure 25 to 35 percent above rate times nights.
Effective cost per night — total divided by nights. Two listings with the same advertised rate can differ by 20 percent once a large fixed cleaning fee and a higher service percentage are applied, and the gap is bigger the shorter the stay.