FAQ - How does the Length of Stay Restriction work?
Suppose it’s football game weekend and the entire hotel will be sold out. The manager sets a minimum length of stay restriction for two nights to prevent bookings for one night that would depart the day before the big football game.
Or it's New Year's Eve, and the manager wants to retain rooms for guests who want to stay beyond the holiday to extend the higher occupancy level instead of being sold out only for a two-day weekend.
In both cases, in an effort to generate more revenue and increase the occupancy for a longer duration, the manager sets a minimum length of stay restriction -- in the first scenario for two nights, and in the second scenario for 3-4 nights.
Length of Stay Restriction Rules:
Min. Length of Stay
New reservations arriving on the date where a Minimum Length of Stay restriction is in place must meet the minimum number of days on the Minimum Length of Stay restriction in order to be booked. For example, if you have a Minimum Length of Stay restriction on Saturday for 3 nights (meaning a guest cannot stay for less than 3 nights), a guest trying to book a new reservation for Saturday only would not be able to book a reservation as it does not satisfy the minimum length of stay restriction of 3 nights. If the new reservation were arriving on Saturday for 3 nights, then the reservation would be able to be booked. A guest trying to book a reservation for Friday and Saturday would also be able to book the reservation, as it does not arrive on Saturday and is not subject to this Minimum Length of Stay restriction.
Max. Length of Stay
New reservations arriving on the date where a Maximum Length of Stay restriction is in place cannot exceed the maximum number of days on the Maximum Length of Stay restriction in order to be booked. For example, if you have a Maximum Length of Stay restriction on Saturday for 4 nights (meaning the maximum number of nights a guest can stay when arrival is on Saturday is 4 nights), a guest trying to book a new reservation for Saturday through Friday (greater than 4 nights) would not be able to book a reservation as it exceeds the maximum number of days on the maximum length of stay restriction. If the new reservation were arriving on Saturday for 3 nights, then the reservation would be able to be booked. A guest trying to book a reservation for Sunday through Friday would also be able to book the reservation, as it does not arrive on Saturday and is not subject to this Maximum Length of Stay restriction.
Length of Stay Not Available
This option is often used instead of Minimum Length of Stay when various lengths of stay are open or closed for arrivals on the currently selected date.
When the Length of Stay Not Available Restriction Type is chosen, seven Length of Stay NA fields appear; each field represents a number of days, from 1 to 7+. (7+ indicates 7 or more nights.) Select the check box for Open (allowed) or unselect (leave blank) for Closed (not allowed) to indicate whether the corresponding minimum length of stay is allowed.
For example, if the 1, 3, 4, and 7+ check boxes are selected (Open) and 2, 5, and 6 check boxes are left blank (Closed), then for reservations arriving on this particular date, stays of 1, 3, 4, and 7+ nights are allowed, but stays of 2, 5, and 6 nights are not allowed.
