Roanoke, VA Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Roanoke's homestay use, defined as offering a portion of a dwelling unit for compensated overnight stays without meeting the bed and breakfast definition, comes with a host-presence condition baked directly into its supplemental zoning standards. ' Combined with the rest of subsection (d), a homestay is capped at two guest bedrooms and four total guests, limited to one per property, rented only daily or weekly for no more than 14 days, and required to keep exterior changes consistent with the residential character of the building.

The host-presence rule means a homestay cannot legally operate as an unattended, whole-house rental while the owner or leaseholder is away; the code effectively distinguishes a hosted homestay from an unhosted rental and ties the more permissive homestay standards to that continuous on-site presence. This tracks the parallel residency conditions the same section imposes on bed and breakfast operators, who under subsections (b)(3) and (c)(1) must reside in the dwelling or, in commercial districts, have an owner or on-site manager reside on the property, reinforcing that Roanoke's home-lodging uses are built around a resident host rather than an absentee operator.