In this article:
- Static Minimum Stay Management
- Dynamic Minimum Stay Management
- Managing orphan nights with Smartpricing
With Smartpricing, managing the minimum stay becomes simple, centralized, and customizable. Not only can you set minimum stay restrictions in a detailed and targeted way, but you also have the option to automate the management of orphan nights. Thanks to these combinations, Smartpricing allows you to:
- Maximize occupancy: by adapting the rules to different market conditions.
- Increase revenue: by taking advantage of long-term and last-minute bookings.
- Reduce manual interventions: thanks to the automation of rules.
All this through a single intuitive interface, which allows you to select the periods, days of the week, properties, and room types on which to apply the rules.
The features dedicated to minimum stay offer you two management modes: static and dynamic.
Static Minimum Stay Management
Static management allows you to set minimum stay rules in a simple and linear way, similar to what you would do with your channel manager. To configure the static minimum stay, just go to the Accommodations item in the navigation menu on the left and choose whether to work at the Property level or for a single Room.
After clicking on one of the two options, you can choose whether you want to set the same restrictions for all opening days by clicking on Default settings, or as with strategies, you can differentiate them depending on the period by clicking on Add period and choosing the dates to modify.
Once you click on the period, in the Minimum stay tab, you can enter the minimum stay for each day of the week. In the example below, we have a base of 1, but on Friday, we have set a minimum stay of 2 instead.
Dynamic Minimum Stay Management
By selecting the Dynamic rules tab after clicking on the period to modify, you can adapt the minimum stay to the booking windows. This option is ideal for optimizing sales and maximizing revenue based on different needs. Here you can indeed set the minimum stay based on the time between the booking and the check-in date, by clicking on Add rule.
Example: In the screenshot below, we have recreated a potential situation for your property with:
- A minimum stay of 7 nights for bookings made more than 30 days in advance, ideal for periods of low occupancy.
- A minimum stay of 3 nights between 29 and 7 days before check-in, for a quicker fill rate.
- No restrictions for last-minute bookings (0-6 days before), maximizing occupancy.
This flexibility allows you to adapt your strategy to fluctuations in demand, improving the efficiency of your property.
Managing orphan nights with Smartpricing
One of the most common and frustrating scenarios in managing restrictions on minimum stay is that of orphan nights, which are the dates between two bookings that cannot normally be booked due to minimum stay restrictions.
Thanks to the feature for automatic management of orphan nights, you will no longer have to monitor your reservation chart or manually modify restrictions. The Smartpricing algorithm will automatically detect the presence of an orphan night and will reduce the minimum stay to the chosen number of nights, making the dates bookable again.
To access the settings, simply click on the Gap filling tab after choosing the period to modify.
In case of cancellations, no problem, Smartpricing will automatically restore the previously set minimum stay, always maintaining optimal and dynamic management of your availability.
This feature, combined with static and dynamic management of the minimum stay, guarantees you total control without the risk of losing valuable bookings or having to intervene manually.