Hotel Distribution: What is the Difference Between Minimum Stay Through and Arrival Restrictions (2024)

Hotel Distribution: What is the Difference Between Minimum Stay Through and Arrival Restrictions (3)

Did you know there are two types of minimum stay restrictions and they operate in a similar but different way.

What is the Min Stay Restriction (Mlos)?

Rate plans usually have the min stay restriction for 2 reasons:

Revenue Management Reason — The hotel manager or revenue manager decides that this coming Saturday night is very busy but the shoulder nights are quiet so he puts a 2 night min stay for Saturday so it blocks more bookings for 1 night stays.

Rate Plan Offers — The other reason for min stay is to create offers like Stay 2 nights and get a 10% discount off the normal rate.

Minimum Stay Through — How it works

Stay Through works by looking at each night that the guest wants to book, it takes the highest number from all the dates and checks if this is higher than the booking length. Arrival type works by only looking at the first night restriction of the booking dates.

For our examples lets take a typical weekend scenario of a busy Saturday night.

  • Friday Night is quiet
  • Saturday is Busy
  • Sunday is quiet

If hotelier decides to put a 3 night minimum stay through restriction on the Saturday night this is what is allowed to happen

Guest Can Book:

  • Friday 1 night is fine as this has 1 night minimum stay
  • Friday 3 nights is fine also as it matches the 3 night rule on the Saturday
  • Friday for 2 nights is not possible (Min stay on Sat = 3)

Min Stay Arrival Restriction

The arrival restriction works by only looking at the arrival date only. It doesn’t matter if theres other nights with different amounts.

Lets take the same example as above:

Guest Can Book:

  • Friday 1 night is fine as Friday has 1 night minimum stay
  • Friday 2 night is fine as Friday has 1 night minimum stay
  • Friday 3 night is fine as Friday has 1 night minimum stay

What was the difference?

You notice that with arrival restriction the Friday booking for 2 nights is now bookable. This might be what the hotelier wanted to happen or maybe he really wants only 3 nights to be booked with the Saturday night.

Can Stay Arrival Work like Stay Through?

It can come close!

If on our above example we add this restriction:

Friday night = 3 min stay arrival

Now if you book Friday you can only book 3 nights

But….

Now the 1 night Friday is not allowed!

Which is best to use?

Unfortunately it’s not such an easy choice, most channels only support Minimum Stay Arrival. This means you have to use it and lots of channel managers made a decision to only support Arrival Restriction and not Stay Through to make it simpler.

In Reality the best choice is to use Minimum Stay Arrivals it’s supported on every channel.

You can use Min Stay Through and accept that some channels will work like Min Stay Arrival.

Fun Fact

Did you know that if you use minimum stay of 2 the both restrictions work exactly the same way?

Opera PMS only supports Min Stay Arrival but they have a “Min Stay Not Allowed” restriction which makes it super flexible. But unfortunately no channel supports this.

Also if you use min stay rate plans like “Stay 3 nights get 10% off” these also work the same way as all days have the same number.

Booking.com can support both and Expedia you can tell your account manager to choose which you would like.

Hotel Distribution: What is the Difference Between Minimum Stay Through and Arrival Restrictions (2024)

FAQs

Hotel Distribution: What is the Difference Between Minimum Stay Through and Arrival Restrictions? ›

The main difference between the Arrival restriction and the Through restriction is in how they automatically adjust or relax based on existing reservations for that room. The Arrival restriction will automatically relax if it is blocked on the right by a reservation in the future.

What does stay restriction mean? ›

Implementing stay restrictions allows you to control the types of bookings you accept for certain dates and/or rate codes. This could mean opening some rate codes only for a limited time or during a specific season. Another option is to manage the length of stay guests can book during high- and low-demand periods.

What is the minimum stay through hotel? ›

Minimum Stay Through — How it works

Stay Through works by looking at each night that the guest wants to book, it takes the highest number from all the dates and checks if this is higher than the booking length. Arrival type works by only looking at the first night restriction of the booking dates.

What does stay through mean in hotels? ›

"Stay Through" minimum length of stay. Properties set a policy on minimum stay at any given period. This refers to the check-in date and check-out date, which must fall within a given period.

What is the difference between minimum stay arrival and minimum stay through? ›

Channels typically support two types of Min/Max stay restrictions: Stay on Arrival and Stay Through. Min/Max Stay on Arrival: the restriction applies to reservations checking in on that day. Min/Max Stay Through: the restriction applies to reservations that are booked across that day.

What is hotel restriction? ›

Restrictions is a tool to control and influence the occupancy and room rate for the hotel.

What are restrictions examples? ›

A restriction is a limitation or a restraint, like when a size restriction keeps you from jumping on a toddler trampoline and bouncing the smaller kids a mile up in the air. Usually a restriction is in place because a limit needs to be set.

What does minimum stay mean? ›

What does minimum stay mean? Minimum stay is a policy, or restriction, that you can set at your property which dictates how guests can book their reservation. For example, if you set a minimum stay of two nights, no guest will be able to book a stay shorter than that.

What is the minimum stay requirement? ›

Also known as a minimum length-of-stay requirement, the minimum night stay policy is the minimum number of nights that a guest can book a short-term vacation rental.

Why do hotels require minimum stay? ›

With minimum stay you can better manage demand during peak periods by reserving rooms for guests who intend to stay longer. Maximizing occupancy in this way allows you to improve both short-term and long-term bottom lines.

What does it mean to stay through? ›

vb. 1 intr to continue or remain in a certain place, position, etc. to stay outside. 2 copula to continue to be; remain.

What is the golden rule in hotel? ›

The Golden Rule of hospitality: Do unto others as you believe they would want done unto them.

What is the difference between stay in and stay at? ›

Stay in is saying that you will stay in (this) place . whereas stay at is to state the place you will be staying. I would like to stay in tonight. I would like to stay at home.

What is minimum and maximum stay? ›

Some tickets, on some airlines, require that you stay a certain minimum number of days, to qualify for a particular fare. Conversely, some tickets on some airlines require that if you stay more than a maximum number of days, you no longer qualify for a particular fare.

What is minimum length of stay in hotel? ›

Minimum Length of Stay, or MLOS, is a pricing strategy used by hotels, bed and breakfasts (B&Bs), and vacation rentals. It refers to the minimum number of nights a guest must book to make a reservation.

Why do some hotels have a 2 night minimum? ›

Usually minimum night stay requirements are just the sales strategy of the particular hotel. Perhaps Fri is a very busy night but Sat isn't looking as great reservations-wise so the hotel imposes a 2 night minimum to built business on Sat.

What are length of stay restrictions? ›

Restriction which allows you to set min and max length of stay during selected period. For example you can set min stay for 7 nights during high season etc. Restriction can be used generally for all room types or you can set different min/max stay restrictions for each and every room type.

What does it mean to be put on restriction? ›

Restriction means restriction from liberty. Meaning you stay on ship at the end of the day when everyone else not in duty section gets to leave and go out, go home, or whatever. You are stuck on ship.

What is a restriction in court? ›

A restriction is any limitation on activity, by statute, regulation, contract provision, or in a conveyance. Individuals or persons seeking restrictions may be limited in what they can restrict, however.

What does restrictions mean mean? ›

noun. something that restricts; a restrictive condition or regulation; limitation. Synonyms: restraint, reservation, provision, rule. the act of restricting. the state of being restricted.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Foster Heidenreich CPA

Last Updated:

Views: 5872

Rating: 4.6 / 5 (56 voted)

Reviews: 87% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Foster Heidenreich CPA

Birthday: 1995-01-14

Address: 55021 Usha Garden, North Larisa, DE 19209

Phone: +6812240846623

Job: Corporate Healthcare Strategist

Hobby: Singing, Listening to music, Rafting, LARPing, Gardening, Quilting, Rappelling

Introduction: My name is Foster Heidenreich CPA, I am a delightful, quaint, glorious, quaint, faithful, enchanting, fine person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.