What an owner actually signs: the Altimera management agreement

Altimera's standard short-term rental management agreement is published in full at the STR Management Agreement, and an owner can read every clause of it before speaking to anyone. The short version: Altimera takes 20% of net rental revenue, pays out monthly, runs for an initial twelve months, and either side can end it on sixty days' written notice.

Altimera manages and lets eleven studio apartments in New Gudauri, all ski-in / ski-out and a 3.5 minute walk from the gondola, and the same standard terms apply to an apartment joining from outside the collection. What follows is what each clause actually costs or protects.

One caveat. Figures in the published agreement appear in square brackets because, as the document says at the top, bracketed terms are completed at signature. Read them as the standard terms rather than as terms that can never move.

What is the management fee, and what is it charged on?

20% of net rental revenue.

The base matters more than the rate, and it is where two offers differ far more than their headline percentages suggest. Net rental revenue in this agreement means gross booking revenue actually received, minus channel and platform commissions, minus payment processing costs. The platform's cut comes off before the fee is calculated, not after. Cleaning fees paid by guests sit outside net rental revenue entirely: they cover housekeeping.

So compare the base, not only the rate. A lower percentage charged on gross booking revenue, before the platform commission comes off, can be the more expensive of the two.

When does the owner get paid?

Monthly, within fifteen days of month end, with a statement itemising bookings, revenue, fees and expenses.

Approved third-party costs, meaning repairs, replacements and consumables beyond normal housekeeping, are deducted from that payout, and receipts are provided. Nothing is netted off silently.

The statement is the part worth pressing any manager on, anywhere. Occupancy claims are cheap; an itemised monthly statement is what lets an owner check one. It is also why occupancy is the number Altimera publishes: across the 2025/26 ski season the collection ran at 70%, February was the strongest month at around 90%, and some individual apartments were fully booked through the whole February high season. How often does a Gudauri apartment actually rent sets out what that figure does and does not say.

What does Altimera do for the fee?

Six things, written into the agreement rather than implied by it:

• Create, publish and maintain the listings, on Airbnb, Booking.com and Altimera's own site
• Set and adjust nightly pricing dynamically
• Handle guest enquiries, bookings, messaging, check-in and check-out
• Arrange housekeeping, linen and consumables between stays
• Arrange routine maintenance and coordinate repairs
• Provide a monthly statement of revenue and charges

Two of those quietly decide a season. Pricing that is adjusted rather than set once in October, and enquiries answered the same day. A third sits underneath both: on the direct channel no platform commission comes off before the fee is calculated, so a night booked direct is worth more to the owner than the same night sold through a platform. The quiet case for booking direct makes that argument from the guest's side; it reads much the same from the owner's.

Onboarding is also the manager's job. The apartment has to meet the Altimera standard for furnishing, equipment, safety and presentation, there is a checklist, and reasonable improvements may be required before it goes live. Photography and listing copy are arranged by Altimera and remain Altimera's work product, with the owner holding a licence to use them while the agreement is in force.

What is exclusive, and what can the owner keep?

While the agreement is exclusive, the owner does not accept bookings for the apartment outside Altimera's channels.

Personal use is not excluded, it is scheduled. The owner blocks dates through Altimera with reasonable notice, subject to bookings already confirmed, which are honoured. That clause deserves an honest hour before signing anything with anyone: the weeks an owner most wants the apartment are usually the weeks it earns most. February is the obvious case. It is a reasonable trade to make deliberately and a bad one to discover in January. When to ski Gudauri, month by month is written for guests, and it is the clearest picture of the weeks you would be giving up.

What does the owner have to do?

Warrant that they are entitled to let the apartment. Keep it insured, structure and contents, with cover appropriate for short-term letting. Keep utilities, building fees and taxes current.

That list is short because most of the operating burden sits on the manager's side. The insurance line is the one to check rather than assume: a policy written for an owner-occupied apartment is not necessarily one that covers paying guests, and that is a question for your insurer.

How does an owner get out?

An initial term of twelve months from signature, renewing automatically for successive twelve month periods, ended by sixty days' written notice from either side.

Either party may also terminate immediately for a material breach that is not remedied within fourteen days of written notice. On termination, confirmed future bookings are either honoured, or transferred, or cancelled by agreement, and any sums due are settled within thirty days. A guest who booked in good faith is not left holding a cancelled winter because two businesses fell out.

Liability is capped at the management fees paid or payable in the preceding twelve months, except where it cannot lawfully be limited. Altimera is not liable for guest behaviour beyond amounts actually recovered from guests, platforms or deposits, nor for fair wear and tear, nor for lost income while the apartment is unavailable. The agreement is governed by Georgian law, with exclusive jurisdiction in the Georgian courts.

Does applying commit you to anything?

No. Ticking the acceptance box on the application is a pre-binding acceptance: it records that you have read the terms and agree to them in principle, and it does not place the apartment under management.

If Altimera approves the property, both parties then execute the agreement with the commercial terms completed, without renegotiating the standard clauses. Either side may withdraw before signature, and neither owes the other anything for costs incurred before then. Applications are reviewed against the Altimera standard and answered within two to three business days.

One thing the agreement does not cover

Transport. Altimera does not operate transfers and does not arrange them, for guests or for owners, and no clause in the agreement implies otherwise. Guests book transport directly with an operator.

Read it before you talk to anybody

The full document is at the STR Management Agreement and reads in one sitting. If those look like terms you could work with, apply to join the collection with photos and links to any current listings, and you will have an answer in two to three business days.

If you do not own in Gudauri yet, start on the other side of the question: the apartments for sale and the Gudauri investment guide.