Boosting STR Occupancy - Lake Arrowhead, CA

[David Brooks]

Alrighty - I'm just started on year two with my STR on the mountain. Straight out of the gate in October of last year and for the six months that followed, every weekend and holiday was booked - but come April, vacancy dropped to nil and hasn't picked up yet. I have lots of views (though AirBnB says it's far less than the "similar properties" in my area), but even those seem to be dropping for both my property and the market in general.

As we head into high season, I'm looking for some insight from seasoned veterans in the market - is this typical? What is your occupancy like, both in winter and in summer - and how do you manage to get people to both book and stay longer? Even with what I presume is my "new property" boost combined with COVID craziness, my occupancy over the first 12 months seemed far below what I would have anticipated. 

Would love any words of wisdom - thanks!