Minimum Stay Rules
Minimum stay rules control the shortest booking your property will accept. They reduce turnover costs, prevent unprofitable short stays, and align with guest expectations for vacation destinations.
Where Minimum Stay Is Set
Minimum stay is configured in two places:
Property Season
Each property season record includes two minimum stay fields:
- Minimum Stay (Arrival) -- the minimum number of nights for a booking that arrives during this season. This is the most common setting.
- Minimum Stay (Through) -- the minimum number of nights for a stay that passes through dates in this season, regardless of when it started. This is a mid-stay restriction used to prevent short orphan gaps from being booked into peak periods from adjacent seasons.
Example: If High Season has a 5-night Minimum Stay and a 7-night Minimum Stay Through, a guest arriving in Green Season cannot book a 4-night stay that ends in High Season -- the stay passes through High Season dates but is shorter than the Minimum Stay Through.
Both fields sync to connected OTA channels as separate restriction dimensions.
- Go to Rates & Pricing › Seasons and switch to By villa.
- Click the villa's cell for that season to open its rate.
- Set the Minimum Stay (Arrival) (e.g., 5 nights) and optionally Minimum Stay (Through) if you want to enforce a longer minimum on stays that bleed into this season.
- Click Update Rate.
The villa's default minimum, used on dates no season covers, is Minimum nights on its Pricing tab.
Rate Overlays
Overlays can include a Min Stay (Arrival) Override and a Min Stay (Through) Override that take precedence over the season for the overlay's date range. This is commonly used for holidays.
- Example: High Season minimum is 5 nights, but Christmas Week overlay sets a 7-night minimum.
How Minimum Stay Affects Availability
When a guest searches for dates, the system checks whether the requested stay length meets the minimum. If it does not:
- The property will not appear in search results for that date range.
- The availability calendar marks those dates as unavailable for stays shorter than the minimum.
- OTA channels enforce the minimum in their own search results.
Gap Filling
Short gaps between bookings can be difficult to fill when minimum stay rules are in effect. For example, a 3-night gap between two confirmed bookings cannot be filled if the minimum stay is 5 nights.
Strategies
- Set an orphan minimum stay: Orphan Min Stay on the property season (or Orphan minimum stay under Advanced defaults on the villa's base rate) is a shorter minimum used only for a gap between two bookings. It must be lower than the normal minimum.
- Reduce minimum stay for one gap: Create a short overlay with a lower minimum for those dates.
- Accept the gap: For high-demand seasons, an unfilled 2-night gap may be preferable to reducing your minimum.
- Adjust check-in/check-out days: Standardizing changeover days (e.g., Saturday-to-Saturday) reduces gap frequency.
Channel Sync
Minimum stay rules sync to connected OTA channels:
| Channel | Min Stay Support |
|---|---|
| Airbnb | Yes -- per date range |
| Booking.com | Yes -- per rate plan |
| VRBO | Yes -- alongside rate updates |
Changes are pushed during the next sync cycle, typically within minutes.
Verifying on Channels
After updating minimum stay:
- Save the property season or overlay.
- Check Channels › Logs for the restriction update.
- Search for your property on the OTA using dates shorter than the minimum. The property should not appear.
Minimum Stay by Property Type
| Property Type | High Season | Green Season | Holidays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luxury Villas ($500+/night) | 7 nights | 3--5 nights | 10--14 nights |
| Mid-Range ($200--$500/night) | 5 nights | 2--3 nights | 7 nights |
| Budget (under $200/night) | 3 nights | 1--2 nights | 5 nights |
Common Questions
What if I change the minimum for a season with existing bookings? Existing bookings are not affected. The new minimum only applies to future reservations.
Can I set different minimums for weekdays and weekends? No. Minimum stay is set per season or overlay, not per day of the week. For a particular weekend, create a short overlay with its own minimum.
Can a guest override the minimum? No. Guests can never book under the minimum. For blanket exceptions, temporarily create an overlay with a lower minimum for those dates. For a one-off booking, a manager can override it at booking time -- see Overriding Availability Rules.
Related
- Seasonal Rates -- Where minimum stay is configured per property season.
- Rate Overlays -- Overriding minimum stay for specific date ranges.
- Holiday Pricing -- Longer minimums during holiday periods.
- Availability Calendar -- How minimum stay affects the calendar.
- Overriding Availability Rules -- Booking a one-off stay under the minimum.