AvaiBook allows you to set restrictions for your bookings, helping you better manage your accommodation's availability and define stay conditions according to your needs. In this guide, we explain how to configure booking restrictions, such as minimum and maximum stays, mandatory check-in or check-out days, and other advanced options.
What types of restrictions can you configure?
AvaiBook offers several options for customising the booking conditions for your accommodation:
Minimum stay: Define the minimum number of nights a guest must book.
Maximum stay: Define the maximum number of nights a guest can book (currently available for configuration only in the default rate and only synchronised with the booking engine).
Mandatory check-in day: Set a specific day of the week for check-in.
Mandatory check-out day: Set a specific day of the week for check-out.
Force weekend: Require bookings to include the weekend (Friday and Saturday).
These restrictions apply to the AvaiBook booking engine, Rentalia and Google, as well as to portals connected via XML, provided they are synchronised.
Steps to configure restrictions
1. Access your accommodation settings
Go to the Accommodation menu and select My accommodations.
Find the accommodation you want to configure and click on it to access its details.
2. Configure restrictions in the "Rates" tab
Once inside the accommodation details, go to the Rates tab.
You can also configure restrictions from Planning > Calendar > Daily rates if you have a Standard or Pro plan, allowing you to manage them more visually.
3. Define restrictions for the default rate
In the Default rates, occupancy and restrictions section, you can set the following conditions:
Minimum and maximum stay: Enter the minimum/maximum number of nights that can be booked.
Mandatory check-in and check-out days: Select the permitted days for check-in and check-out, if required.
Force weekend: Enable this option if you want bookings to be required to include the weekend.
4. Configure restrictions by season
If you have created specific seasons (for example, for periods of high demand), you can assign different restrictions to each one:
Access season management from the same Rates tab.
Define the restrictions for each season, taking into account the management mode (permissive, moderate or restrictive). This determines how minimum stay requirements are applied when a booking spans several seasons:
Permissive: The restrictions of the season corresponding to the check-in date apply.
Moderate: The booking must meet at least the minimum stay requirement of the most restrictive season within the booked dates.
Restrictive: The booking must meet the minimum stay requirements of all the seasons it covers.
Practical example: Configuring restrictions by season
Let's say you have two seasons defined:
Season 1 (1–4 July): Minimum stay of 2 nights.
Season 2 (5–9 July): Minimum stay of 4 nights.
A guest wants to book from 3 to 6 July. Depending on the management mode:
Permissive: The booking is accepted if it meets the requirements of Season 1 (2 nights), as the check-in date is 3 July.
Moderate: The booking must meet the requirements of the most restrictive season (Season 2, with a minimum stay of 4 nights). In this example, the booking is for 3 nights in total, and only 1 of those nights falls within Season 2 (the night of 5 July), so it does not meet the requirement and would be rejected.
Restrictive: The booking must meet the conditions of both seasons: 2 nights in Season 1 and 4 nights in Season 2. It meets the first condition with the nights of 3 and 4 July, but includes only 1 night in Season 2, the night of 5 July. Therefore, the booking would be rejected.
Don't forget to save your changes.
Once you have completed the configuration, click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page to apply the changes.
The changes will be applied to the existing rates and seasons for the selected dates.
⚠️ Important considerations
Season management mode: If you manage your seasons in moderate or restrictive mode, the system will require the minimum stay restrictions for each mode to be met. To change the price for a single night, make sure the management mode is set to permissive.
Synchronisation with portals: Restrictions such as minimum stay, check-in/check-out days and Force weekend are synchronised with the AvaiBook booking engine, Rentalia and Google, as well as with portals connected via XML, provided they are synchronised. In addition, if you wish, you can define a different minimum stay at rate level within the AvaiBook connection settings for Booking and Expedia*. *Make sure you keep availability and rates updated for the next 12 months.
AvaiBook plans: Some features, such as configuring rates from the calendar, are only available on the Standard, Pro or Elite plans.