All Forum Posts by: Garrett Brown

Yeah, I would personally avoid NO as an STR investor, since I grew up there. It seems to be way too much red tape to get through. I do love visiting, though, still, but I usually choose a hotel there.

 Nice! That's a cool list to see as well. How has it been going for you there?

Good info! I do think most of the list is not the best place to invest if people are searching for random markets. Greenville and Savannah seemed like the STR winners when just looking at their data. Interesting to hear investors in Savannah say it's slow for the first time for them though. I was surprised they had Santa Fe at #1 on this though

 I was surprised by that as well. As someone who has been to Santa Fe a few times, I can't believe they were number 1. 

Travel + Leisure just dropped their 2025 list of the top 15 cities in the U.S., based on nearly 180,000 reader votes—and I couldn’t help but notice how many of these overlap with short-term rental and lifestyle investing markets.

Here’s the full list:

1. Santa Fe, NM

2. New Orleans, LA

3. Charleston, SC

4. Savannah, GA

5. Alexandria, VA

6. Honolulu, HI

7. Greenville, SC

8. New York City, NY

9. Nashville, TN

10. Chicago, IL

11. Boston, MA

12. Asheville, NC

13. Williamsburg, VA

14. Austin, TX

15. San Antonio, TX

Santa Fe took the top spot this year, ending Charleston’s 12-year run at #1. Readers praised its arts scene, weather, and charm. New Orleans and Savannah also ranked high for their food and walkability, while cities like Asheville, Austin, and Nashville continue to attract people for lifestyle and tourism reasons.

From an investor lens, several of these cities have strong short-term rental potential or are already popular STR hubs. Others, like Alexandria or Williamsburg, might fly more under the radar but offer proximity to major metros and unique tourism draws.

I’m curious—are any of you investing in these markets? Have you seen Travel + Leisure’s rankings line up with actual guest demand or market performance? Are these types of “best cities” lists something you track when choosing where to invest?

 Thank you so much! let me know how I can help in anyways and feel free to jump into my messages here anytime. 

I could go on for hours about marketing (I do glamping mainly and have over 100k social media followers on my places). We do 70% direct booking all because of video marketing on IG and Tiktok. Get a good videographer for vertical video, find a social media editor from Upwork or Fiverr, and post consistently if my best feedback. Also, make sure you have good organic SEO for your website to draw in people looking for "glamping" near your city or area. 

Thanks bud! @Andrew Steffens 

Hey Luke! Happy to connect and answer any questions I can help with. I literally wrote the book on glamping for BiggerPockets www.biggerpockets.com/glampguide

What questions can I assist you with to start?

It's all about buying right, designing well, and operating at a high level. Almost any market can potentially work if you nail all 3. With that being said, here are some random ones that have good data backing them that could spark your interest. Please always review the regulations and be prepared to work on them first. 

The Best Cheap Markets:

Amarillo, TX

Baton rouge, LA

Des Moines, IA

Richmond, VA

Fayetteville NC

The best mid priced markets

Charlotte, NC

Green bay, WI

Kansas city, MO

Tampa, FL

Lancaster, PA

Best high-end markets

Moab, UT

Rockaway beach, OR

Charleston, SC

Gulf shores, AL

Sarasota, FL

None of these are slam dunks if you buy overpriced and don't care as a host. It's best to figure out an area you actually like going to and can get to semi easily if needed 

I use Proper because they were the only ones who would insure my unique structures. Definitely pricey but it seems the most well rounded for my own piece of mind. If you don't have anything uniquely built, you can probably get cheaper quotes from Steadily or Foremost. CBIZ is good but even more expensive than proper I found