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Home/ Locations/ Cle Elum & Suncadia
$632
Avg. Nightly Rate
33%
Avg. Occupancy Rate
$5,470
Avg. Monthly Revenue
4–6%
Est. Cash-on-Cash ROI
MODERATE
Seasonality
MODERATE
Regulatory Burden

* Market averages from AirROI data for its Cle Elum, Washington market (492 active listings, including Suncadia homes with Cle Elum addresses), October 2025 to September 2026, updated October 1, 2026. ROI is Cavmir's estimate. A single home's numbers depend on its size, its location and how it is marketed.

The Market

Why Cle Elum & Suncadia Are a Mountain Rental Market for Seattle

Cavmir is an Airbnb marketing agency. We build the brand, the direct-booking website and the marketing for short-term rentals in Cle Elum & Suncadia.

Cle Elum, Roslyn and the Suncadia resort community sit in upper Kittitas County, east of Snoqualmie Pass, and the resort puts the drive from Seattle at about 90 minutes on I-90. Cle Elum is the railroad town at the interstate, Roslyn is the old coal town just up State Route 903, and Suncadia's 6,400 acres of forest lie between them; the resort says only 2,000 of those acres will ever be developed. Ronald sits a few miles further up the valley toward Lake Cle Elum, and the Teanaway Community Forest stretches north of Cle Elum. The rental market is almost entirely houses: AirROI's Cle Elum market, which includes the Suncadia homes that carry a Cle Elum address, counts 492 active listings, 98 percent of them entire homes, more than three in four with three or more bedrooms and nearly three in four sleeping eight or more guests.

The market splits into products that book and price differently. Large homes inside Suncadia sell two public golf courses, more than 40 miles of trails, the Cle Elum River and the restaurants of Suncadia Social, but only as far as the community's rules and your own membership let a renter in. Older houses in Cle Elum and Roslyn sell walkable streets, The Brick, the Coal Mines Trail and a coal-mining history that goes back to 1886, and inside those city limits a permit decides whether you can rent at all. Cabins up the valley toward Ronald and Lake Cle Elum sell water, snow, woods and quiet, and AirROI's separate Ronald market already counts 161 active listings. A listing titled 'Cle Elum cabin near Suncadia' competes with all of them at once, and it usually loses to the house that says exactly which of these it is.

The calendar has two peaks. In AirROI's monthly figures for the past year, July leads with about $12,140 of revenue for the average listing, 48 percent occupancy and $712 a night, August is close behind, and June builds into summer. December is the second peak, at about $9,630 and 40 percent, built on Christmas and New Year's. March is the low point, about $4,220 at 23 percent. The guests are mostly from the Puget Sound: Seattle tops AirROI's guest-origin list at about 28 percent, followed by Tacoma, Bellevue and Renton, with Portland next, and 97 percent of guests are domestic. Most of them drive, so the pass, the weather and the last hour of the trip shape how and when they book.

What sets this market apart is the price level and the distance between the top and the middle. AirROI's average nightly rate here is $632, more than twice the Washington average of $285, and the average listing brought in about $65,600 over the twelve months to September 2026, up 6 percent, while the number of active listings grew 26 percent. The median listing fills 31 percent of its nights, the top quarter 47 percent or more and the top tenth 61 percent or more, and a top-quarter listing earns at least 3.4 times what a bottom-quarter one does. AirROI's amenity data puts listings with a hot tub at about 5.4 times the annual revenue of those without, and three in four listings already have one. The rest of the gap comes from presentation, pricing, rules followed and guests who come back, which is work a marketing plan can do.

Top Attractions & Landmarks

  • Prospector and Rope Rider, Suncadia's public golf courses
  • More than 40 miles of trails at Suncadia
  • The 1,000 Steps from The Lodge to the Cle Elum River
  • The Coal Mines Trail through Cle Elum, Roslyn and Ronald
  • Roslyn's 25 historic cemeteries
  • The Brick in Roslyn, built in 1898
  • The Teanaway Community Forest
  • The Snoqualmie Tunnel on the Palouse to Cascades Trail

Nearby Markets: Leavenworth  |  Seattle  |  Lake Chelan

Lake Cle Elum and the forested hills above it, near Cle Elum, Washington

Photo: Jerzy Gronostalski · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Why Cavmir

The Cavmir Advantage
in Cle Elum & Suncadia

Cavmir markets homes in Cle Elum, Roslyn and Suncadia as the small hospitality brands they are, the Suncadia house that hosts the same Seattle families every July and every Christmas week, the permitted bungalow in town that sends its guests down the Coal Mines Trail to The Brick, the cabin up the valley that sells snowshoes, a lake and a hot tub under the trees, rather than as interchangeable mountain inventory. We put your property in front of the guest who chooses the upper county on purpose, the Bellevue family booking the holidays in October, the Tacoma couple planning a golf weekend, the group of friends who want the Snoqualmie Tunnel on bikes, wherever they search, from Google and AI assistants to the email list that brings last year's guests back.

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State of the Industry · History

The Cle Elum & Suncadia STR Market — Past & Present

The valley's first business was the railroad. The Kittitas band of the Yakama called the river Tle-el-Lum, said to mean swift water, and the town took its name from that word. Thomas L. Gamble staked a claim on April 28, 1883, and Walter J. Reed filed his on June 4 that year; they're counted as Cle Elum's two founding families. Coal was found near Roslyn in 1884, and the first Northern Pacific train reached the new Cle Elum depot on October 11, 1886. Reed and Tom Johnson built a sawmill to supply lumber for the railroad and its Stampede Pass tunnel, and the Northern Pacific pulled most of its crews out in 1889, once the tunnel was done. Up the hill in 1886, prospectors working for the railroad found rich coal veins, and Logan M. Bullitt, vice-president of the Northern Pacific Coal Company, directed the building of Roslyn as a coal town.

Roslyn's early years were hard and crowded. In August 1888 the Knights of Labor struck for higher wages and an eight-hour day, and the Northern Pacific brought in about 50 African American miners from the Midwest and East under armed guard; Territorial Governor Eugene Semple ordered the guards to disperse, and the Black miners eventually numbered 300. On May 10, 1892, an explosion in the company's No. 1 mine killed 45 men, still the worst coal mine disaster in Washington history, leaving 29 widows and 91 orphans. By 1900 about 40 percent of Roslyn's residents were foreign-born, among them English, Italian, German, Scottish, Welsh, Polish, Lithuanian, Croatian, Slovenian, Slovak and Serbian families, and the town's burial ground grew into 25 separate cemeteries, many for different ethnic groups. Roslyn peaked at 3,126 people in 1910, and Cle Elum reached its all-time high of 2,749 the same year. Cle Elum burned on June 25, 1918, when a fire destroyed 205 homes and half the business district, and South Cle Elum grew around the depot and rail yards of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad after that line came through in 1908.

Coal declined for four decades. Production collapsed in 1919 after its World War I peak and had fallen by more than half by 1933, and the last two companies, the Northwest Improvement Company and the Roslyn Cascade Coal Company, folded in 1963. Interstate 90 was finished through Cle Elum the next year, and its overpass was dedicated on October 5, 1964. Then television found Roslyn: in 1990 the producers of Northern Exposure chose it to play Cicely, Alaska, and the show ran until 1995, with The Brick, a tavern built in 1898, prominently featured. The resort came next. Plum Creek Timber showed interest in a resort site in 1993, construction began in 2003, the first homes were finished in 2005, and a lodge and spa followed in 2008. Cle Elum annexed Bullfrog Flats in 2006, more than doubling the city's territory. Today Suncadia runs under Hyatt's Destination by Hyatt brand, with Arnold Palmer's Prospector course, the Jacobsen Hardy Rope Rider course and Tumble Creek Club, a private Tom Doak course.

Today the market is large, house-heavy and growing. AirROI's Cle Elum market shows 492 active listings averaging about $632 a night at 33 percent occupancy over the twelve months to September 2026, for annual revenue near $65,600 per listing, up about 6 percent, while the count of active listings rose 26 percent. Professional managers run about four in ten listings, the ten biggest hosts run 48 percent of them, and Suncadia's own rental program appears in the data with 53 homes. Next door, AirROI counts 161 listings in Ronald, 32 in Roslyn and 35 in Easton. The rules differ by address: Cle Elum issues a limited number of residential permits, Roslyn allows whole-home vacation rentals only in its commercial zones, Kittitas County is drafting rules for the unincorporated land, and Suncadia requires registration. The gaps we look for first are the ones that cost money: a hot tub that never appears in the first five photos, a title that doesn't say whether the home is inside Suncadia or in town, amenity promises the community's rules don't allow, no plan for Christmas week, and March priced as if it were July.

Pricing Strategy & Seasonality

Pricing, Seasonality & When to Capture ROI

Pricing Strategy

Pricing here is tiered by size first, then by setting. AirROI's averages climb steeply with bedrooms: about $475 a night for a three-bedroom, $664 for a four-bedroom and $1,013 for five or more, with average annual revenue of about $40,500, $57,900 and $123,000 for the same three sizes. Across the market, the median listing averages about $525 a night, the top quarter $780 or more, the top tenth $1,100 or more, and the bottom quarter $325 or less. Amenities show up in the numbers too: AirROI puts the annual average at about $121,000 for listings with an outdoor kitchen against $63,100 without, $112,000 with lake access against $60,400 without, and $89,900 with an EV charger against $54,600 without. Those gaps partly reflect which houses have the features, but they show what guests pay for. A five-bedroom home that belongs in the top tier and presents like the median is an expensive mistake, and the fix is usually positioning before price.

The calendar does the rest. AirROI's high-season months average about $9,870 of revenue at 44 percent occupancy and $652 a night; its low-season months about $5,260 at 30 percent and $553. July carries the year's highest nightly rate, about $712, and April the lowest, about $542. Guests book about 59 days ahead on average: about 76 days for July, 69 for December and June, and only about 38 for March. The average stay is 3.2 nights, from about two and a half in October to 3.4 in December, April and July. Nearly three in four listings set a two-night minimum and about one in five takes a single night, so 94 percent of the market accepts a one- or two-night stay. Most listings check guests in at 4 p.m. and out at 11 a.m., and about half use a firm cancellation policy.

The common mistakes are pricing Christmas week like any other December weekend and treating March and April as a discount instead of a different product. Christmas and New Year's belong to multi-family groups who want a big house, a hot tub and a kitchen for a week, and they book in early fall. March belongs to remote workers, couples and late planners who book a few weeks out and stay a few nights midweek. The fees matter as well: AirROI puts the median cleaning fee at $332 and the average at $392, about 16 percent of gross revenue and about $105 a night on a typical stay, and 97 percent of listings charge one. If you compete with Suncadia's own rental program, compare totals the way a guest does: the resort adds a resort fee of 16 percent of the nightly rate, which covers the Swim & Fitness Center and parking, and takes a 50 percent deposit at booking.

Seasonality & ROI Windows

Moderate seasonality with two peaks. AirROI's two-year averages put July at about 2.7 times March's revenue, and the three strongest months bring in 38 percent of the year. Summer runs from late June through August on golf, the trails, the river and long evenings, and Cle Elum's Pioneer Days, the town's biggest event, adds a parade weekend around the Fourth of July. December is the second peak, with Roslyn's Old Town Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving and Cle Elum's holiday parade and fireworks on the city's calendar for early December. January and February hold around 30 percent occupancy on winter weekends, Nordic trails and the tubing hill. The trough is March and April, the two slowest months for revenue, and October brings the shortest stays of the year, about two and a half nights.

The revenue most owners miss sits in two places. The first is spring. March books late, about 38 days ahead, and its guests stay about three nights; a midweek rate, a weekly rate for remote workers and photos that show the house in spring rather than under snow fill nights a winter-weekend model leaves empty. The second is the fall weekday. October averages about 29 percent occupancy and the shortest stays of the year, so Sunday to Thursday is where the open nights are; a quiet-week offer for couples, a work-from-the-mountains rate and a guidebook built around the trails, the Roslyn Museum and Swiftwater Cellars turn those nights into income. The Snoqualmie Tunnel closes to riders and walkers from November 1 until about May 1, and Suncadia's winter page lists the Nordic trails and the tubing hill, so let your listing change with the season instead of selling the same summer photos all year.

Regulation & Licensing · 2026

What the Law Requires in Cle Elum & Suncadia

Washington sets the baseline in RCW 64.37, adopted in 2019. A short-term rental is a dwelling offered for fewer than 30 consecutive nights, and every operator must remit all applicable local, state and federal taxes unless a platform does it for them. You must carry primary liability insurance of at least $1 million in the aggregate, or book every stay through a platform that provides equal or greater coverage, and you must post in each rental the street address, emergency numbers, a floor plan showing fire exits and escape routes, the maximum occupancy and your own contact, and meet the state's smoke-detector and carbon monoxide alarm rules. Guests pay Washington's 6.5 percent state sales tax plus the local rate and a 2 percent special hotel-motel tax; the Department of Revenue's lodging-rate chart for April to June 2026 put the total at 10.5 percent in Cle Elum and 10.3 percent in Roslyn and the unincorporated county. Airbnb collects the combined sales tax, the special hotel-motel tax and the other local lodging taxes on Washington stays of 29 nights or fewer; on direct bookings you collect and file them yourself under your Washington business registration.

The two cities write their own rules. In Cle Elum, Chapter 17.160 of the municipal code, adopted as Ordinance 1601 in 2021, requires a short-term rental permit for any rental in the city: $1,000 a year ($880 for the permit and $120 for licensing and processing), plus a $30 city business license through the Department of Revenue, valid January to December, not prorated and renewed by December 15. Commercial zones have no cap; residential zones get a limited number of permits, because a rental must sit at least 250 feet, boundary to boundary, from the next one, and one owner or host may run no more than three. If you don't live in the house, the application goes through a Type 2 review with a notice of application mailed to owners within 300 feet, and the building department inspects for building and fire safety before the permit issues. You'll also need a site plan, a certificate of insurance and a local contact who can respond within 60 minutes, around the clock, and the city processes applications in the order they arrive. In Roslyn, short-term rentals are allowed by permit only, in three types: a bed and breakfast and a home accommodation, an owner-occupied home with no more than two bedrooms, are allowed by permit in the residential zone, while whole-home vacation rentals of up to 30 consecutive days are allowed by permit in the commercial and commercial overlay zones, under section 18.140.040 of the city code. Check your parcel against the city's zoning map before you buy or list.

Outside the city limits, Kittitas County is writing short-term rental rules. Proposed regulations came before the county Planning Commission at hearings on September 22 and October 13, 2026, as part of the 2026 Land Development Code updates (file SE-26-00014), and the commission's recommendation goes to the Board of County Commissioners. As of October 2026 we found them still proposed, so watch for adoption and its terms; AirROI found none of the 492 active listings in its Cle Elum market displaying a permit or registration number. Inside Suncadia, the owners association's Resolution 111e, in force since July 1, 2021, requires you to register before renting for less than 30 days, and renting unregistered brings a $500 fine plus $500 a week after the first notice. You must name a 24/7 contact who can resolve a noise or guest-conduct complaint within 30 minutes of a warning, display the registration and the community rules in the home, and hold guests to quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., with fines from $250 to $1,000 that are charged to the property and don't reset with each new group. Parking is allowed only on driveways, auto courts and lots, never on vegetation or on the street overnight; open wood or charcoal fires, wood-burning fireplaces and stoves inside homes in the residential areas, and fireworks are all prohibited; and Suncadia Patrol enforces the rules, with the county sheriff behind it. The current registration form also asks you to confirm working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, an accessible fire extinguisher and a posted address.

Then come the rules that sit in your deed and your membership. What a renter can use at Suncadia depends on how the stay is booked: the resort's own bookings include the Swim & Fitness Center through the resort fee, the Lodge pool is for Lodge guests and Lodge owners, the Nelson Farm pool is for members only, and Tumble Creek Club's course is private. Read your covenants, your membership terms and the association's current rules before you promise a renter a pool, a tee time or a fire, and get in writing what your guests can use. Whether your parcel sits inside Cle Elum or Roslyn or in the unincorporated county decides which permit and which tax rate apply, so check it with the county assessor before you budget. Treat this section as orientation rather than legal advice, and confirm current requirements with the state, the county, your city and your association before you list. Cavmir handles the marketing side; licensing and tax compliance sit with you and your local professionals.

Market-Specific Tips & Challenges

Local Tips & Unique Market Challenges

Tips That Actually Move Revenue in Cle Elum & Suncadia

First, sell the two peaks as separate products. July and Christmas week are the most valuable nights of the year, and they book furthest out, about 76 days ahead for July and 69 for December. Publish the holiday week with its own rate and a longer minimum stay by early October, open the summer weeks by early spring, and offer both to last year's guests before anyone else; a family that comes back every Christmas is worth more over ten years than a season of one-off bookings. Give the Fourth of July weekend, with Cle Elum's Pioneer Days parade, and Thanksgiving weekend, with Roslyn's Old Town Christmas, pages of their own, because they sell to different guests than an ordinary weekend does. Nearly three in four listings here use a two-night minimum all year, so a calendar with a longer minimum on peak weeks and one-night gap fillers in the slow months already sets you apart.

Second, describe the drive and the winter exactly. Most guests come from the Puget Sound over Snoqualmie Pass, and in a storm the state can require chains; WSDOT advises winter drivers to have approved traction tires and carry chains, so tell guests to check the pass report before they leave. Put the exit in the welcome email, exit 80 for Roslyn and Suncadia by way of Bullfrog Road and the roundabouts, or exit 85 for Cle Elum, and say whether your driveway is steep, whether it's plowed and by when, and whether a two-wheel-drive car will make it. Inside Suncadia, tell guests where to park, because overnight street parking isn't allowed and cars that block the plows can be towed. Then sell the winter with the right photos: the hot tub with snow on the deck, the gas fireplace and the view from the window, because Suncadia's rules don't allow wood-burning fireplaces in its homes, and a guest who expects a wood fire and finds a switch writes a different review.

Third, build the guidebook around the trails and the towns. The 1,000 Steps run from The Lodge down to the Cle Elum River, the Coal Mines Trail ties together the mining history of Cle Elum, Roslyn and Ronald, and Suncadia's Rental Pavilion rents e-bikes, mountain bikes and cruisers. The Snoqualmie Tunnel, 2.3 miles long on the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, is closed from November 1 to about May 1, and parking on that trail needs a Discover Pass, $10 a day or $45 a year; the 50,241-acre Teanaway Community Forest needs one too, and its 29 Pines campground is 22 miles north of Cle Elum. Add Roslyn's cemeteries, the Roslyn Museum and The Brick for the history, and Swiftwater Cellars for dinner. A guidebook page that says when to go, what to bring and which pass to buy gives guests a reason to pick your house over one that only says 'near Suncadia', and it gives search engines a reason to show your site for trail and history searches.

Fourth, engineer the repeat and treat operations as marketing. The bar is high: AirROI's Cle Elum listings average a 4.88 rating, 56 percent carry Airbnb's Guest Favorite badge, and six in ten take Instant Book. The weakest category score is value, at 4.76, against 4.94 for location, which tells you guests love the setting and notice the total they paid; a clear fee structure and a house that matches its photos protect that score. Build a real direct channel too: a fast direct-booking website, a complete Google Business Profile, and a past-guest list that hears about the holiday week and the July weeks first. In Suncadia, it also means a 24/7 contact who answers in minutes, the community rules printed and posted in the house, and a parking and quiet-hours note in the confirmation email, because a fine follows the property, not the guest.

Unique Cle Elum & Suncadia Challenges

Rules are moving at every level. Kittitas County's proposed short-term rental regulations were before the Planning Commission this fall and go next to the county commissioners, so anyone renting in the unincorporated county should follow the hearings and expect new requirements. Cle Elum's spacing rule means a house 200 feet from an existing rental may not qualify for a residential permit at all, and Roslyn's code keeps whole-home vacation rentals out of its residential zone. Inside Suncadia, fines are charged to the property and don't reset with each new guest, so one loud group can cost more than a night's rent. Buy and list with the rules in hand, and check the city's public map of existing rentals before you assume a Cle Elum permit is available.

Supply is growing fast. Active listings in AirROI's Cle Elum market rose 26 percent in a year; average revenue still rose about 6 percent, so demand has kept up so far, but a new listing enters a crowded field where the ten biggest hosts run nearly half the listings and Suncadia's own program rents 53 homes. The median listing fills fewer than a third of its nights. The home-sale market is soft as well: Realogics Sotheby's report for April to June 2026 showed 11.8 months of supply in Cle Elum, a median sale price of $842,000, down 5.18 percent on the year, and 60 homes sold against 92 a year earlier. Owners who live in Seattle face a second problem: a house run from the other side of the pass drifts, with stale photos, slow replies and a spring calendar nobody opens.

The pass and the weather shape the product. Winter storms can bring chain requirements on Snoqualmie Pass, so a guest's arrival time and mood depend on a road you don't control; clear arrival notes, flexible check-in and a fair policy for storm days win the careful planner your neighbors lose. Fire rules are strict too: Suncadia bans open wood and charcoal fires and allows only gas grills and approved gas fire pits, and the state trail allows no fires at any time. And the shoulder months are long. March and April are the slowest two months of the year and October brings the shortest stays, so a house that only knows how to sell a July week or a Christmas week leaves money on the table for much of the spring and fall.

A Curious Cle Elum & Suncadia Fact
Roslyn's dead were buried by nationality. The Roslyn Historical Cemetery on the hill above town is made up of 25 separate cemeteries, many of them for different ethnic groups, a record of the Italians, Croatians, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Poles, Welsh and others who came to Roslyn to mine coal. Its oldest part, the Old City section, holds the town's earliest residents, and many headstones carry central and east European customs. Guests reach it from I-90 exit 80 through the Suncadia roundabouts, and a welcome book that tells them about the 1892 mine explosion before they go turns a short walk into a story they'll tell at dinner.
Finance Essentials — Cle Elum & Suncadia
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Insurance

Washington law requires at least $1 million in primary liability coverage in the aggregate for a short-term rental, unless every stay books through a platform that provides equal or greater coverage, and platforms must warn you that a personal homeowner policy might not cover rental stays. Expect a policy written for short-term rental use, liability limits that account for the hot tub, the bikes and the winter ice, and coverage that matches how the house is really used. Cle Elum asks for a certificate of insurance with the permit application. Disclose rental use to your carrier, and talk to a broker who writes mountain homes in Kittitas County before you buy.

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Property & Income Tax

Rental income goes on your federal return. Guests pay Washington's sales tax and the 2 percent special hotel-motel tax, about 10.3 to 10.5 percent in total in upper Kittitas County on the state's April-to-June 2026 chart, and Airbnb collects them on its bookings; on direct bookings you collect and file them yourself under your Washington business registration. Ask the county assessor how a home used as a rental is classified before you budget property tax, and work with a Washington accountant who knows short-term rentals.

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Mortgages & Financing

Financing is conventional but sized for the market. Realogics Sotheby's put Cle Elum's median sale price at $842,000 for April to June 2026 and the 30-year fixed rate at 6.4 percent, so expect second-home or investment-property pricing depending on how you use the house, and a lender who wants a realistic two-peak revenue model rather than a flat monthly average. Inside Suncadia, add association dues and any club membership to the carry, because the rent has to cover them too.

Future Outlook · 2027 & Beyond

Where Cle Elum & Suncadia is Headed Next

The outlook is steady for structural reasons. Seattle is about 90 minutes away, the resort says only 2,000 of Suncadia's 6,400 acres will ever be developed, and the state bought the 50,241-acre Teanaway Community Forest in 2013 and keeps it open for hiking, camping, riding and snowmobiling. The golf courses, the trails, the river, Roslyn's history and the holidays bring people back every year, and none of those reasons to visit depends on a platform's search ranking.

The pressures to watch are rules, supply and the cost of carrying a mountain house. Kittitas County's short-term rental regulations go to the county commissioners after this fall's Planning Commission hearings, Cle Elum's residential permits are limited by spacing, and Suncadia enforces its rules with escalating fines. Active listings grew 26 percent in a year. And with 11.8 months of supply in the April-to-June 2026 home market, buyers have room to negotiate, so run the rental numbers before you agree on a price. None of this threatens a well-run rental, but each one rewards owners who run the house properly.

The other shift is in how guests find a house. Travelers now also find stays through AI assistants and direct search, not only platform scrolls, and the properties that surface in those answers publish clear, structured, useful information: the exit and the chain advice, whether a renter can use the resort's pools, the gas fireplace and the hot tub, the holiday-week plan and a fast site an assistant can read. Our guide to generative engine optimization for vacation rentals explains how that works. Guests here plan holidays months ahead and ask very specific questions, so positioning for those answers now is one of the most durable advantages an owner can build.

From the Desk of Sofie Sinag

Why We Love Marketing in Cle Elum & Suncadia

Cle Elum and Suncadia are a market where plain facts sell. A hot tub under the trees, a 90-minute drive from home, a trail from the back door, a coal town with a tavern that played a part on television: the guest chose all of it on purpose. When a listing says exactly what the house offers instead of generic mountain-getaway copy, it attracts the traveler who's shopping for this valley, and that traveler tends to come back and look after the house.

What I love about marketing here is the calendar's personality. July belongs to families on bikes and golfers on the Palmer course, Christmas week to three generations under one roof, Thanksgiving weekend to Roslyn's Old Town Christmas, and March to the couple who wants a quiet week and a long walk down to the river. An owner who stops marketing one generic mountain house and starts marketing four seasonal products often finds nights and rate that were sitting there all along.

And the raw material is generous. A valley with a railroad founding, a coal town of 25 cemeteries, the worst mine disaster in the state's history, a television town called Cicely and a resort that left most of its forest standing gives a host more stories than a welcome book can hold. Our job is rarely to invent an angle. It's to notice the true one the owner has stopped seeing, frame it plainly and put it in front of the guest already looking for exactly that.

Cavmir's Cle Elum & Suncadia Cheat Sheet

The Picks We Recommend for Your Welcome Book

The picks Cavmir puts in a Cle Elum and Suncadia welcome book: the details that make a stay feel like local knowledge instead of a printed concierge script, and that quietly earn the five-star reviews.

Morning

The 1,000 Steps

The 1,000 Steps staircase runs from The Lodge at Suncadia down to the Cle Elum River. Pick up a Suncadia trail map at the Rental Pavilion before you go, and save some legs for the climb back up.

On Wheels

The Coal Mines Trail

The trail ties together the mining history of Cle Elum, Roslyn and Ronald. Suncadia's Rental Pavilion rents e-bikes, mountain bikes and cruisers, and on Suncadia's paved paths bikes keep to 8 mph so walkers and wildlife come first.

Evening

The Brick, Roslyn

Built in 1898 and prominently featured in Northern Exposure, The Brick still serves salads, burgers, pulled pork and other sandwiches and cocktails. It opens at 11:30 a.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends, and stays open until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.

History

Roslyn's cemeteries

Twenty-five separate cemeteries, many for different ethnic groups, climb the hill above town; the Old City section holds the earliest residents. From I-90, take exit 80 to Bullfrog Road, go through the Suncadia roundabouts to SR 903, turn left on Pennsylvania Avenue and follow the hill up.

Rainy Afternoon

Roslyn Museum

The town's story, from the coal mines that brought together more than 20 nationalities to the Northern Exposure years. It opens Friday to Sunday from 11 to 3 in season, asks a $3 donation, and suggests calling ahead to confirm the hours.

Dinner

Swiftwater Cellars

The winery restaurant at 301 Rope Rider Drive at Suncadia is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. and closed Monday and Tuesday. Reservations are recommended, and on a holiday weekend book before you arrive.

Big Ride

The Snoqualmie Tunnel

The 2.3-mile tunnel on the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, the old Milwaukee Road line, is closed from November 1 to about May 1. Bring lights and a warm layer, and buy a Discover Pass, $10 a day or $45 a year, for the parking.

Backcountry

Teanaway Community Forest

50,241 acres the state bought in 2013, run by DNR with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, for hiking, camping, mountain biking, horseback riding and snowmobiling. 29 Pines campground is 22 miles north of Cle Elum; the Middle Fork Road past Indian Camp is closed after flood damage, so check before you drive.

Golf

Prospector and Rope Rider

Suncadia's two public courses: Arnold Palmer's Prospector at 7,100 yards, and the Jacobsen Hardy Rope Rider at more than 7,300, with youth tees on every hole and a three-hole short course. Tumble Creek, the Tom Doak course, is private.

Snow Day

Nordic trails and the tubing hill

Suncadia's groomed Nordic and snowshoe trails are open to the public at no charge, and The Winter Shop at Prospector Golf Course rents gear. There's a tubing and sledding hill too; check the resort's winter activity guide for hours and reservations.

Holiday

Roslyn Old Town Christmas

The annual holiday celebration fills downtown Roslyn the day after Thanksgiving, from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on November 27, 2026, with the Merry Mitten Mingle walk the same day. Cle Elum's tree lighting is on the city's calendar for the next evening.

Local Playbook · Three Property Types

How Cavmir Markets Cle Elum & Suncadia Properties

Three property types that do well in Cle Elum & Suncadia, a common starting point for each, and the plan Cavmir builds for it.

5BR Suncadia Home with Hot Tub · resort community
The Situation

A large home inside Suncadia that fills July and Christmas week but leads with the kitchen instead of the hot tub and the forest, advertises a wood fire and resort pools the rules don't give a renter, prices March like a December weekend and takes every booking through two platforms.

The Plan

Confirm the association registration, the 24/7 contact and exactly what renters can use, then rebuild the listing around what's true: new photography of the hot tub, the deck and the gas fireplace, a parking and quiet-hours note in every confirmation, and an amenity line that names what's included. Publish Christmas week and the July weeks as their own products with longer minimums, offer them to past guests first, add a spring midweek and weekly rate for remote workers, and launch a direct-booking site with a past-guest list.

What It Targets

Built to raise peak-week rate, fill the spring trough and keep the house clear of association fines. Track July and December nightly rate against last year, the date Christmas week books, March and April occupancy, review mentions of amenities, fines (the target is zero) and the share of direct and returning-guest bookings.

2BR Permitted Home · Cle Elum, in town
The Situation

A permitted two-bedroom house a few blocks from downtown Cle Elum that competes on price with Suncadia homes it can't match on amenities, sits empty most weeknights from September to April, and never mentions the town around it.

The Plan

Reposition it as the walkable base for both towns: a guidebook to the Coal Mines Trail, Roslyn's cemeteries and museum, The Brick and Swiftwater Cellars, pages for Pioneer Days and the holiday parade, couples-focused photography, an EV charger if the electrical panel allows it, a midweek rate for fall and spring, and the city permit number shown in the listing and on a direct-booking page, with the renewal filed before December 15.

What It Targets

Designed to win couples and small groups at a steady rate instead of chasing big-house guests. Measure weeknight occupancy from September to April, shoulder-season rate, search traffic for Cle Elum and Roslyn terms, direct bookings and an on-time permit renewal.

4BR Cabin with Lake Access · up the valley toward Ronald
The Situation

A cabin with lake access up the valley that calls itself 'near Suncadia', loses spring and fall to bigger homes, collects reviews about a steep, icy driveway nobody warned guests about, and has no plan for the county's coming rules.

The Plan

Reposition it as the base for the lake, the Teanaway and the snow: lake-access photos for summer, a snowshoe and Nordic page for winter, a winter-arrival page with the exit, chain advice, all-wheel-drive guidance and the plowing schedule, a weekly winter rate, a Discover Pass and trailhead guide, and search content for lake and Teanaway queries backed by a direct-booking page. Follow the county's short-term rental rules through adoption and comply as soon as they take effect.

What It Targets

Aimed at better reviews, more winter and shoulder bookings and a calendar that doesn't depend on Suncadia's overflow. Track review mentions of access, winter weekend occupancy, lake-season nightly rate, search traffic for lake and Teanaway terms and direct bookings.

FAQ

Cle Elum & Suncadia Airbnb Marketing:
Questions, Answered

Does Cavmir offer Airbnb marketing services in Cle Elum and Suncadia?

Yes. Cavmir works with owners in Cle Elum, Roslyn, Ronald, the Suncadia resort community and around Lake Cle Elum and the Teanaway on branding, listing optimization, photography direction, direct-booking websites, SEO and paid campaigns. Large Suncadia homes with a hot tub, permitted houses in town and cabins with lake access are exactly the kind of stays we market. We're a marketing agency; day-to-day operations stay with you or your local manager.

What do short-term rentals earn in Cle Elum and Suncadia?

AirROI's Cle Elum market, which includes the Suncadia homes with Cle Elum addresses, averaged about $632 a night and 33 percent occupancy over the twelve months to September 2026, or roughly $65,600 a year per listing, up about 6 percent. The spread is wide: the median listing fills about 31 percent of its nights, the top quarter 47 percent or more, and homes with five or more bedrooms average about three times what three-bedroom homes earn. Treat these as market averages, not a forecast for your house; product, presentation and pricing decide where a property lands.

When is demand highest for Cle Elum and Suncadia rentals?

July is the top month for revenue and occupancy and August is close behind; December is the second peak, built on Christmas and New Year's, and June builds into summer. March and April are the slowest months, and October brings the shortest stays. Guests book furthest ahead for July and the holidays, about ten to eleven weeks out, so have those weeks priced and published early.

Are short-term rentals regulated in Cle Elum, Roslyn and Suncadia?

Yes, and the rules depend on the address. Cle Elum requires a permit, $1,000 a year, with a 250-foot spacing rule in residential zones; Roslyn allows whole-home vacation rentals by permit only in its commercial zones; Kittitas County is working through proposed rules for the unincorporated area; and Suncadia's owners association requires registration, a 24/7 contact and strict quiet-hours, parking and fire rules. Washington law adds insurance and safety-posting requirements. Confirm current requirements with the state, the county, your city and your association; Cavmir handles the marketing side, not legal or permitting advice.

Does Airbnb collect the lodging taxes in Cle Elum and Suncadia?

Yes, on its own bookings. Airbnb collects Washington's combined state and local sales tax, the special hotel-motel tax and other locally imposed lodging taxes on stays of 29 nights or fewer. The state's April-to-June 2026 chart put the total at 10.5 percent in Cle Elum and 10.3 percent in Roslyn and the unincorporated county. On direct bookings you collect and file the taxes yourself, under your Washington business registration.

What can a Suncadia rental promise guests about amenities?

Only what the rules and your membership allow. The resort's own bookings include the Swim & Fitness Center through a resort fee, the Lodge pool is for Lodge guests and owners, the Nelson Farm pool is for members only and Tumble Creek's course is private. The association also bans wood-burning fireplaces and stoves in homes in the residential areas, along with open wood or charcoal fires, so describe a gas fireplace and a gas fire pit as what they are. Confirm your guests' access in writing, then say it plainly in the listing and the confirmation email; see vacation rental SEO for how clear listings help in search.

Do you work with properties in Seattle, Leavenworth and Lake Chelan too?

Yes. Seattle is this market's biggest source of guests, and a city stay sells a different trip; see our Seattle page. Owners with homes elsewhere in the Cascades and central Washington will find our Leavenworth page and Lake Chelan page useful, since each of those markets has its own calendar, guests and rules.

How much does Airbnb marketing cost for a Cle Elum or Suncadia property?

It depends on scope. Current plans and one-time project pricing are on the pricing page; most owners start with a listing overhaul or the 12-step system. A conversation about your property costs nothing: contact Cavmir.

Free Property Review

What is your Cle Elum & Suncadia property actually worth per night?

Send us the listing and we'll tell you what we'd change. Not a pitch deck — a straight read on your photos, your title, your rates against the Cle Elum & Suncadia comp set, and whether a direct-booking site would pay for itself.

You'll hear back from a person, usually inside one business day. If we don't think we can move your numbers, we'll say so. Cavmir is a short-term rental marketing agency — we position and market properties, we don't manage them.

  • No obligation, and no automated call sequence
  • We market and position — we never manage your property or hold keys
  • Works whether you're on Airbnb, Vrbo, or direct

Market Intelligence · Seasonality

Airbnb seasonality in Cle Elum & Suncadia, month by month

Demand in Cle Elum & Suncadia peaks around July through August and runs quietest around March through April. Here is how the year actually books — and what to do about each stretch of the calendar.

Peak demandSteadyQuiet

Peak season

Summer is the main peak. July is the strongest month for revenue, occupancy and nightly rate, August is close behind, and June builds into it, carried by golf, the trails, the river and long evenings. December is a second peak built on Christmas and New Year's, when multi-family groups want a big house with a hot tub for the week. Hold peak rates firm, set longer minimum stays on July weeks and Christmas week, and have photos and listing copy ready by early spring for summer and by early fall for the holidays.

The shoulders

May, September, November and the winter months of January and February sit in the middle. Weekends carry them: the trails in late spring and early fall, Thanksgiving weekend with Roslyn's Old Town Christmas, and winter weekends with Suncadia's Nordic trails and tubing hill. Weekdays are where the open nights are, so offer a midweek rate to remote workers and couples, use one-night gap fillers, and give the holiday weekends pages of their own.

The quiet stretch

March and April are the slowest months of the year, and October brings the shortest stays. Spring guests book late, often within about five weeks, and stay a few nights, so a weekly rate for remote workers, photos that show the house in spring and flexible check-in days fill nights a winter-weekend model leaves empty. It's also the time to service the hot tub, refresh photos and plan next year's holiday-week offer to past guests.

Dates that fill first

Pioneer Daysearly July
Cle Elum's biggest event, a downtown festival with a parade around the Fourth of July; it falls on the summer peak, so price that weekend on its own and set a longer minimum stay.
Roslyn Old Town Christmaslate November
Roslyn's annual holiday celebration fills downtown the day after Thanksgiving; sell Thanksgiving weekend to families as the start of the holiday season.
Christmas in Cle Elumearly December
The downtown association's holiday parade and fireworks, on the city's 2026 calendar for the first Saturday in December; a reason to sell an early-December weekend before the Christmas peak.
RDA Roslyn Music JamMarch through November
A community music night on the first Wednesday of each month at the Roslyn Downtown Association's Creative Center; a midweek evening worth a line in the guidebook.
Market Intelligence · Guests

Who books Cle Elum & Suncadia Airbnbs — and how far ahead

Seattle-area families
Families and multi-family groups from Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma who come for July weeks and Christmas week. They want a big house that sleeps everyone, a hot tub and a full kitchen, and they rebook the same week when a house earns it.
Golf groups and couples
Friends and couples who come for Suncadia's two public courses from late spring to early fall. They care about the drive to the first tee, a good kitchen and a quiet deck after the round.
Trail and bike groups
Riders and hikers who come for the Coal Mines Trail, the Snoqualmie Tunnel and the Teanaway. They want somewhere to store bikes, a place to rinse gear and a guidebook that tells them which parking pass to buy.
Holiday and snow-week guests
Families and friends who come for the holidays and winter weekends, the Nordic trails and the tubing hill. They need clear winter-driving notes, a plowed driveway and a warm house with a hot tub.
Remote workers and midweek couples
Couples and remote workers who fill spring and fall weekdays. They want fast wifi, a real desk, a fair weekly rate and a quiet week near the river or the trails.

The booking window

Guests book about two months ahead on average. July and Christmas week book furthest out, roughly ten to eleven weeks early, while March bookings arrive about five weeks ahead and the winter months about six. Have summer ready by early spring, publish the holiday week by early fall, and keep spring pricing flexible for late planners.

Typical stays

Most stays run a long weekend, a little over three nights on average. Stays are shortest in October and longest around Christmas, in July and in April, when weekly guests are part of the mix.

Where guests drive from

SeattleBellevueTacomaRentonPortland

Where guests fly from

San FranciscoLos AngelesPhoenixDenverChicagoDallas
Seattle, about 90 minutes away over Snoqualmie Pass, leads the guest list by a wide margin, with Tacoma, Bellevue and Renton behind it and Portland also on the list. Fly-in guests land at Seattle-Tacoma International, which lists dozens of nonstop domestic routes, and drive east on I-90; geo-target the Puget Sound for the holiday weeks and summer, and the big fly-in metros for golf trips and long weekends.
Market Intelligence · What Wins

The Airbnb that wins in Cle Elum & Suncadia

The winner is a four- or five-bedroom house that sleeps eight or more, with a hot tub, a gas fireplace, a big kitchen and room to park off the street. Inside Suncadia, the homes that do best say plainly what a renter can use and follow the community's rules to the letter. In Cle Elum and Roslyn, permitted homes win by selling walkable streets, the trails and the history; up the valley, cabins with lake access win by selling the water and the snow instead of competing with resort homes on amenities.

Amenities that move bookings here

hot tubgas fireplacesleeps eight or moreoutdoor kitchenlake accessev chargermovie roomfast wifi
The highest-leverage move is leading with the hot tub and the season: the tub and the forest in the first photos, the exact drive and winter-arrival notes in the first lines, and an amenity line that says what renters can and can't use. A generic mountain-cabin listing competes with every house in the valley.
FAQ

Cle Elum & Suncadia Airbnb marketing questions, answered

How do I market my Airbnb in Cle Elum & Suncadia?

Start by naming your product, a Suncadia home with a hot tub, a permitted house in Cle Elum or Roslyn, or a cabin with lake access up the valley, and sell that advantage in the title and the first photos. Price around the two peaks, holding July and Christmas week firm with longer minimums, and build a midweek and weekly product for spring. Spell out the drive over Snoqualmie Pass, the winter arrival and exactly which amenities a renter can use. Add a Google Business Profile and a direct-booking site so returning families can book you directly; that's the marketing layer Cavmir builds for owners here: photography direction, listing copy, a direct-booking website and local search.

When is peak season for Cle Elum & Suncadia Airbnbs?

Summer is the main peak, with July the strongest month and August close behind. December is a second peak around Christmas and New Year's. March and April are the quietest months, and October brings the shortest stays of the year.

How far in advance do guests book Cle Elum & Suncadia Airbnbs?

About two months ahead on average. July and Christmas week book furthest out, roughly ten to eleven weeks early, while spring bookings often arrive within about five weeks. Have summer ready by early spring and publish the holiday week by early fall.

Where do most Cle Elum & Suncadia Airbnb guests come from?

The Puget Sound leads by a wide margin: Seattle first, then Tacoma, Bellevue and Renton, with Portland also on the list, and nearly all guests are domestic. Fly-in guests land at Seattle-Tacoma International and drive east over Snoqualmie Pass on I-90.

What amenities matter most for a Cle Elum & Suncadia Airbnb?

A hot tub leads, followed by room to sleep eight or more, a gas fireplace and a kitchen built for a group. Lake access, an outdoor kitchen, an EV charger and a movie room add value at the top of the market, and fast wifi matters for the midweek and remote-work stays that fill spring and fall.

Keep exploring

Washington short-term rental permit data
Real registry data
Airbnb marketing in Friday Harbor
Nearby market
Airbnb marketing in Lake Chelan
Nearby market
Google Pages
Service
Airbnb amenities that increase bookings
From the blog
Amenity ROI Tool
Free tool
Free Tools · Websites That Book

See what your listing in Cle Elum & Suncadia is leaving on the table

Run your Airbnb, Vrbo, or website through Cavmir's free grader. It checks the things that decide whether guests book in Cle Elum & Suncadia — photos, listing copy, page speed, local search — and shows you where bookings leak. Takes about a minute, and there's no sales call attached.

If the report says your booking engine is the weak link, that's fixable: a direct-booking website of your own means repeat guests stop paying platform fees to come back to you. That's the work Cavmir does — see Airbnb website design in Cle Elum & Suncadia.

What the grader measures

  • ✓Photos and the first-impression frame
  • ✓Listing title and copy
  • ✓Your direct-booking website (or the lack of one)
  • ✓Page speed and mobile experience
  • ✓Local search and Google visibility
Grade My Listing — Free
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