Restrictions for hotels — Definition and Use

Definition restrictions for hotels — what is that?

Restrictions are also known as residence conditions or stay controls. Their purpose is to achieve optimal occupancy rates in the hotel with as few occupancy gaps as possible.

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Many of the practices were first used by airlines and then adopted for hotels. They must be carefully considered and tailored to the requirements of your own hotel.

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Restrictions relating to arrival/departure and length of stay are most frequently applied. They are usually used in a certain number of rooms and/or at a certain point in time.

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The restrictions on the length of stay are probably the most common and suitable way to increase the occupancy and income of your hotel.

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Types of restrictions at hotels — what options are there?

Here we explain the four most common Stay Controls: CTA, CTD, MinLos, MaxLos

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CTA — Closed to Arrival

CTA is an availability lock: Your guests are unable to arrive in one day. The rooms blocked in this way cannot be booked for arrival. Guests who have arrived earlier can stay at the hotel beyond this specific date.

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Please keep in mind that someone who arrives on this day and has spent several nights (for a good room rate) wants to stay, cannot book — because the exact date of arrival is not available.

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This restriction is often used for arrangements and cheaper rates. This practice is also known primarily from holiday destinations: Arrivals are not possible here on weekdays, only from Sunday to Sunday, at least at certain prices.

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CTD — Closed to Departure

For a specific day, you can use this tool to block rooms for departure. Your guests can't leave on this day (but they will arrive, of course). The restriction has no effect on stays with previous arrival and overnight stays beyond this day.

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The possible uses of this restriction are limited. For example, it can be regulated that holidaymakers do not extend a one-week stay by one or two nights and thus hinder optimal occupancy of the rooms.

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MinLoS — Minimum Length of Stay

You give your guests a minimum number of nights they must book if they want to check in on a specific day. You may connect this at a certain rate.

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This can be useful if the demand for rooms is very high in a certain period of time. Then you can avoid so many shorter stays, which may also mean vacancy in the rooms. However, it should be remembered that walk-ins and shorter stays (at higher rates) actually mean profit for your hotel.

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With this instrument, occupancy rates can generally also be increased during weak occupancy times — when there are enough guests who accept the minimum stay.

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MaxLos- Maximum Length of Stay

Here you set the maximum length of stay for which a guest can book at a specific (usually low) rate. “Long-stays” can thus be avoided during trade fairs.

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In the short term, you can check your occupancy in this way: There is a 2-day conference taking place and you have occupied all rooms at this time. Then the restriction can help to get bookings for the day before. These are then limited to one night (maxLos = 1), so that all rooms are available again on conference days.

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Use of restrictions at hotels — example?

When using Stay Controls, you should pay attention to booking patterns. If you own a business hotel, it won't make much sense to block Friday for departures. If you own a holiday hotel, minimum stay conditions may apply to increase occupancy.

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In most cases, it will be worthwhile not to apply restrictions to your entire hotel, but to specific rates or rooms at selected times. In this way, you can ensure that the requirements of the different guests are taken into account. This increases your occupancy rate and, if restrictions are used judiciously, so will room rates.

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If your hotel is booked out from Friday to Sunday due to a major event in your city, you can the restriction MaxLos Apply to rooms that are still vacant from Thursday to Friday. Combined with a special price for these bookings, you will achieve optimal occupancy and room occupancy.

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