What Boulder Short-Term Rental Hosts Are Actually Charging for Sundance 2027
QUICK ANSWER
Reported: real Boulder short-term rental listings tracked by 5280 in mid-September 2026 show nightly rates from about $359 for a one-bedroom near CU Boulder to $2,235 for a downtown two-bedroom during the festival, several times what the same units charge on an ordinary weekend. For comparison, Park City hosts reported earning between $125 and $425 a night during the January 2026 festival. Pricing guidance varies widely, from a local agent’s suggestion of $1,000 per room per night to Visit Boulder’s own guidance closer to $300 per room per night. Treat these as scattered data points, not a guarantee of what any specific property will earn.
Last verified: September 23, 2026
What’s been reported
| Data point | Status |
|---|---|
| Visit Boulder guidance: roughly $300 per room per night | Reported |
| Local real estate agent guidance: roughly $1,000 per room per night | Reported |
| Downtown Boulder 2-bedroom listed at $2,235/night for Sundance vs. $691/night during CU Homecoming | Reported |
| One-bedroom near CU Boulder listed at $359/night, booked within a week | Reported |
| South Boulder 3-bedroom listed at $795/night, booked within a week | Reported |
| Gunbarrel 3-bedroom raised from $922 to $1,825/night, still unbooked at publication | Reported |
| Park City hosts earned $125 to $425/night during the January 2026 festival | Reported, historical comparison |
| Airbnb searches for Boulder stays during Sundance week up 500% year over year | Reported |
These figures come from a single outlet’s review of individual listings on Airbnb and comparable platforms in mid-September 2026, not an official price index. Some are outliers rather than averages, and prices could move in either direction as more inventory becomes available and as the festival’s December lineup announcement makes demand more concrete. Boulder’s Festival Lodging Rental License allows eligible homeowners to rent for up to 29 days a year during approved festivals, and Airbnb has offered a $200 incentive to Boulder hosts who secure a booking by December 31, 2026, though neither program guarantees any particular nightly rate.
Why it matters
If you are deciding whether to rent out your own place during the festival, or just trying to understand why nightly rates on booking sites look so different from property to property, these are the most concrete real-world numbers reported so far, as opposed to official suggested pricing. For the regulatory side of renting out your home, see our guide to Boulder’s Festival Lodging Rental License and our post on Airbnb’s $200 host bonus. If you are a visitor trying to figure out what you might pay rather than earn, our earlier roundup on what lodging may actually cost for Sundance 2027 pulls together the guest-side pricing data reported so far.
What we’re watching
We’re watching whether currently unbooked listings, like the Gunbarrel example above, come down in price as the festival gets closer, and whether Visit Boulder or Sundance Institute publish any official host earnings data to compare against these individual reports.
