Length of stay (LOS): the average, and minimum stay rules

1. 1Choose the period, and take the bookings that arrived in it.
2. 2Add up the room nights those bookings bought: one room for three nights is three.
3. 3Count the bookings.
4. 4Divide the nights by the bookings.

• Count room nights, not guest nights: a couple in one room for two nights is two room nights.
• Decide how to count a booking for several rooms: as one booking, or as one for each room. Counting each room gives a figure you can compare with your occupancy; whichever you choose, keep to it.
• Leave out bookings that were cancelled, and count no-shows only if you count their nights as sold.
• Leave out rooms sold for a few hours in the day.
• Take bookings by the day they arrive, so a stay that runs into the next month is counted once, whole.

• Each stay has its own costs: a check-in, a check-out, a room to clean and linen to change. Longer stays spread them over more nights.
• Short stays leave gaps: a one-night booking in the middle of the week can leave single nights on either side that are hard to sell.
• Different guests stay for different lengths. Business travellers often stay a night or two, families on holiday and wedding guests longer, so your average shows which guests you are getting.
• It works with occupancy: the same occupancy from longer stays means fewer bookings to win and fewer gaps to fill.

A minimum length of stay, often written min LOS, is a rule on a booking site or your own booking engine: on the dates you choose, a guest can't book fewer nights than you set.

Booking.com lists the kinds of rule a hotel can set in its extranet calendar: a minimum and maximum length of stay; the same counted from the arrival date; an exact stay; no arrivals or departures on a date; and a minimum or maximum time booked in advance. Each applies only to the room types and rate plans you choose.

Booking.com also warns that the more restrictions you set, the fewer guests see your property, because a search whose dates don't meet your rules won't show it.

• Use a minimum stay on your busiest dates, such as a festival weekend or New Year, so the busiest nights bring a longer stay with them.
• Take it off as the date comes closer if rooms are still unsold.
• Watch for gaps. Booking.com's own example is a three-night minimum with only two nights free between bookings: those nights won't show to a guest searching for two. Its dynamic restriction rules can lower the minimum for such gap nights on their own, never below a limit you set.
• Check your maximum stay matches any long-stay prices you offer, or guests can't book them.

• Offer a price for a longer stay, such as a lower price from the third night, or a weekly price.
• Put what there is to do nearby on your website and listings, so a guest has a reason for another night.
• Keep minimum stays for the nights busy enough to carry them, and take them off as those nights near if rooms remain.
• Look at your average by kind of guest and by booking site: a site that sends mostly one-night stays may cost more to serve than its commission shows.
• For weddings and events, offer the nights either side at a good price, so guests arrive the day before and leave the day after.