@Dara11
Agree with @Helen3 and @Mark116
$55/night for 4 people sounds way too low..... even without knowing your market. Do you want to target couples? A group of 4 adult friends? A family of 4? Depending on the type of guests you want to attract, you'd have to adjust your pricing strategy. Also, think about how much less? more? work it is for you to clean and prep your space after a hosting a 2 people vs. 4 people.
Fyi, I look at several factors.
- Price of my competition (listings that are in the same area, provide similar settings and target the same guest group). Because I have a private room listing, I also look at nightly rates of budget hotels and guest houses in my area.
- Cost of hosting (amenities, cleaning, laundry, snacks.......) : Usually 'no guests = no expenditure' type items. If you do your own cleaning/laundry, you should be paying yourself.
- Monthly bills (heating, electricity, water, internet, cable.......) : Items with a "base price" that may or may not increase with usage. I always budget GENEROUSLY (not everyone is mindful about conserving water/energy, especially if they are not the ones paying the bill)
- High/Low seasons
Also, I looked at what a long-term rental would cost a typical renter if I were to have a long-term tenant (in my case, it would be a roommate/housemate situation) and made sure I'd be able to earn at least as much as having a long-term tenant with a 40~50% occupancy (from a monthly AND annual base), and at the same time I target to maintain an average 70% occupancy rate.
I review my nightly rates and check what my local competitors are doing at least once or twice a year to adjust/update as needed.
Hope this helps~