minimum stay requirements

[TheBeachHouse]

We don't impose minimum stays except on holiday weekends. We have found we are full of people going to the theater or weddings or funerals or getting away from the kids. Many of them tell us that other places turned them down because they only wanted one night.
We figure we have a housekeeper, so a full night is a full night. I guess we could argue that laundry costs money, but is it that much?
Do you impose minimums? Are you the only housekeeper? Other considerations?

 

[Donald Draper]

When we first started we had no minimum stay requirements. With 9 rooms and high occupancy we quickly realized the amount of extra work was going into flipping all those rooms on the weekends. We impose a 2 night minimum for Fridays and Saturdays and honestly haven't looked back. Saving on bath amenities, housekeeper time, laundry, and wear/tear on the rooms. Not to mention the HEAVEN that is a full house with a Saturday afternoon free and not waiting for check-ins! But we are a tourist destination, so most of our folks are not here for weddings/funerals, etc. but to tour and it takes longer.

 

[Arks]

I started with minimums all the time, mainly because I didn't want to have to clean the place after just one night. Then I realized that the one-nighters usually leave the place pretty clean and easy to flip.
Then I switched to minimums on weekends only, then recently switched to your method, with minimums only on major holidays.
Since I'm not destination lodging, I realized I'm as busy on weeknights, with business people and funeral people, as I am on weekends with the getaways. And like you, since I have a housekeeper now, it doesn't wear me out to do one-nighters. I just split the money with the housekeeper and I get a little extra money I'd have missed otherwise, and she gets more work and income. Everybody's happy!

 

[Morticia]

In the summer we do minimums on the weekends. Also for big in town events. Why? Because as soon as we used to let someone take 3 rooms on a Saturday for one night; 3 other people called who wanted 3 nights and we were stuck turning THEM away.
We always end up with a free Fri or Sat because someone books TH-FR or SA-SU. (Big example is Labor Day weekend. We are almost empty on Fri but almost full for Sa-Su. If I had let Sat night singles book, I would have lost the 4 rooms staying for 2-3 nights. Now anyone can book the Fri on those rooms that are already booked for Sa.)
We plan to be the housekeeper because we just never know if we will have one or not. Or if she will show up. Or show up and actually work. (Rather than walking in the door and sitting down like she just did.)
Sure we get the same calls asking for one night and we turn them away unless they are repeats. It's hardest when we get the NEXT call for a single night and they say, 'Well THAT person got a single night.' So we explain the whole 'rank has privilege' thing that we do for repeat guests.

 

[GoodScout]

We have 2-day minimums on ski season, summer & fall foliage weekends. We have the same experience as Mort where lots of people want a single Saturday. We give them the option: Book the two days, or be "waitlisted" where we'll give them the single day only if the room's not booked within 3 days of their arrival. (And we caution them that this rarely happens). We may lose them as a guest, but 9 times out of 10 we get a 2-day booking either from them or another guest.
On major holidays we start out with a 3-day minimum. We don't often get it, but we do get some.
We drop our 2- and 3- day minimums if the rooms are still vacant 4 days prior. At that point I accept I'm only going to get one of the two days, and on occasion I don't get either. But over the long run, we do better to start out insisting on 2 days for weekends and 3 for major holidays.
My big pet peeve is area weddings. We get soooo many guests who won't book for 2 days, but then turn around and want to get into their room early Saturday so they can change for a 2 or 3 o'clock wedding down the road. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. I offer a $50 early checkin ONLY if the room's not booked the night before, and just this morning I pulled the trigger on one. The bridesmaid gets to change 2 hours early, and I get an extra U.S. Grant for no extra work.

 

[EmptyNest]

I did min. 2 night on weekends. If I didn't fill up...so be it. I didn't care. I wasn't doing all that work for one night. I know...heads in beds..but that was not my driver.

 

[JimBoone]

We're the only housekeepers so there is an advantage to us to have a Friday/Saturday booking, but usually only require a minimum on a limited number of peak weekends during the year, however it may depend on the timing of the booking, we may only accept the one night booking as we get closer to the date of the stay.

 

[Copperhead]

We never had minimums except for major holidays and events until this last year when I added minimums to our peak period months. It worked well last year, this year so far not so much.
I do love it when it works since we do not hire outside help it provides us with a little time off especially during peak times when there are lots of things to do. [and the reason why we are full] It is nice to be able to enjoy the areas activities like the rest.

 

[Morticia]

I did min. 2 night on weekends. If I didn't fill up...so be it. I didn't care. I wasn't doing all that work for one night. I know...heads in beds..but that was not my driver..

I did min. 2 night on weekends. If I didn't fill up...so be it. I didn't care. I wasn't doing all that work for one night. I know...heads in beds..but that was not my driver.

Yes, sometimes it is just better to not do a full house strip 2 days in a row. Which we are pretty much doing this weekend because the 2 night min doesn't start until July. Right now I'm happy to have the rooms because it's the first we've been busy-busy since Mem Day and the bank balance is scary.

 

[Flower]

When we first started we had no minimum stay requirements. With 9 rooms and high occupancy we quickly realized the amount of extra work was going into flipping all those rooms on the weekends. We impose a 2 night minimum for Fridays and Saturdays and honestly haven't looked back. Saving on bath amenities, housekeeper time, laundry, and wear/tear on the rooms. Not to mention the HEAVEN that is a full house with a Saturday afternoon free and not waiting for check-ins! But we are a tourist destination, so most of our folks are not here for weddings/funerals, etc. but to tour and it takes longer..

We do a minimum stay on weekends . But what is happening this year and a bit last season was they wanted 2 night stay Saturday and Sunday, leave early Monday. The crowd doing this are the ones that work late Friday and don't want to leave late Friday night, so they rather get up early Saturday and arrive about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. It has been working out fine( So Far). But we are a tourist destination.

 

[Generic]

We do 2 night minimums, which are removed a week before arrival. 3 night minimums on long weekends. In the winter I'm not as strict, but in the summer, those single nights are too much for me and sometimes I'm a one-man show. It's not just the cleaning and turn over, it's the arrivals as well.

 

[happykeeper]

I suppose it depends. As we became more popular, we found that too many single night stays were stirring the pot too much. Too much activity. Frequent check in and check out, guests that did not always fit our profile, more last minute guests, and the challenge of rescheduling our room manager prompted us to go to a 2 night minimum for the first time this year. It was great when we were not so jammed. It became very not so great when it turns out that we could still be 100% with a minimum.

 

[happykeeper]

I did min. 2 night on weekends. If I didn't fill up...so be it. I didn't care. I wasn't doing all that work for one night. I know...heads in beds..but that was not my driver..

We have never been heads in beds. That is especially important in these times of changing travel desires. Folks are looking squarely at the place they are staying as an experience.

 

[Ice]

I have a 2 night minimum of our larger room and it has not hurt our bookings at all. I also have minimum on holiday weekends. I have found if they really want to come they'll book more then 1 night. Now with that being said I have (when I felt like it) let them have 1 night but then they pay $25 more.

 

[Aussie Innkeeper]

I learned a little tip at one of the PAII conferences a couple of years ago. One marking guru who owned a very successful inn in Vermont said that he did do minimums for his more expensive rooms on weekends. For the less costly rooms, he allowed one night, but come Wednesday or so, if the room wasn't rented Friday, he would send an e-mail to the people who rented it for Saturday, saying that it was available Friday and offering it to them for a really good deal. He was often able to rent the room this way and now he had $$ when the room would have otherwise sat empty and he didn't have to have his housekeeping staff flip the room on Saturday. I've tried this on several occasions, when the circumstances presented themselves, and it has worked.

 

[Morticia]

I did min. 2 night on weekends. If I didn't fill up...so be it. I didn't care. I wasn't doing all that work for one night. I know...heads in beds..but that was not my driver..

We have never been heads in beds. That is especially important in these times of changing travel desires. Folks are looking squarely at the place they are staying as an experience.
.

We have never been heads in beds. That is especially important in these times of changing travel desires. Folks are looking squarely at the place they are staying as an experience.

Or, the place they are staying is part of a grander experience, not the entire experience. Lots of people still travel to have the experience outside their place of accommodations. It's good when it all comes together but many callers say, "I just need a place to sleep, I don't want to spend too much." And there needs to be a place for these good people to stay as well. (Which harks back to my walk-ins who want to spend their money on good food and a LONG vacation rather than a short vacation where the accommodations are spendy.)
Providing accommodations across the spectrum is very important for all of our long range survival. I think we're all the best at the level we have chosen to occupy. At the least, we are all building our businesses to the best of our abilities in the market we inhabit. Where the market is changing drastically, we're adapting to the new modality.
I haven't seen too many slackers hang out here for very long. Which is good for all of us. We egg each other on to be our best.

 

[Morticia]

I learned a little tip at one of the PAII conferences a couple of years ago. One marking guru who owned a very successful inn in Vermont said that he did do minimums for his more expensive rooms on weekends. For the less costly rooms, he allowed one night, but come Wednesday or so, if the room wasn't rented Friday, he would send an e-mail to the people who rented it for Saturday, saying that it was available Friday and offering it to them for a really good deal. He was often able to rent the room this way and now he had $$ when the room would have otherwise sat empty and he didn't have to have his housekeeping staff flip the room on Saturday. I've tried this on several occasions, when the circumstances presented themselves, and it has worked..

That's a good idea. I'm going to think about that one. But...
You know what always throws the fear into us, tho, are the guests who talk about the great deal they got to the ones who paid full price. One reason we never discuss prices with walk-ins in front of full freight guests. You know that awful feeling when you paid $600 for that plane ticket 3 months ago and the guy sitting next to you is crowing about how he got his seat for $200 last night.

 

[happykeeper]

I did min. 2 night on weekends. If I didn't fill up...so be it. I didn't care. I wasn't doing all that work for one night. I know...heads in beds..but that was not my driver..

We have never been heads in beds. That is especially important in these times of changing travel desires. Folks are looking squarely at the place they are staying as an experience.
.

We have never been heads in beds. That is especially important in these times of changing travel desires. Folks are looking squarely at the place they are staying as an experience.

Or, the place they are staying is part of a grander experience, not the entire experience. Lots of people still travel to have the experience outside their place of accommodations. It's good when it all comes together but many callers say, "I just need a place to sleep, I don't want to spend too much." And there needs to be a place for these good people to stay as well. (Which harks back to my walk-ins who want to spend their money on good food and a LONG vacation rather than a short vacation where the accommodations are spendy.)
Providing accommodations across the spectrum is very important for all of our long range survival. I think we're all the best at the level we have chosen to occupy. At the least, we are all building our businesses to the best of our abilities in the market we inhabit. Where the market is changing drastically, we're adapting to the new modality.
I haven't seen too many slackers hang out here for very long. Which is good for all of us. We egg each other on to be our best.
.

Or, the place they are staying is part of a grander experience, not the entire experience. Lots of people still travel to have the experience outside their place of accommodations.

Of course they do.

"I just need a place to sleep, I don't want to spend too much." And there needs to be a place for these good people to stay as well.

Yep. It's called the Budget Inn and there is one coming to where you live soon.

Providing accommodations across the spectrum is very important for all of our long range survival.

If by "our" you mean our industry, I would say to any inspiring innkeeper that the idea of providing accommodations (in any category) is not enough. You will need to do and be more.

 

[Morticia]

I did min. 2 night on weekends. If I didn't fill up...so be it. I didn't care. I wasn't doing all that work for one night. I know...heads in beds..but that was not my driver..

We have never been heads in beds. That is especially important in these times of changing travel desires. Folks are looking squarely at the place they are staying as an experience.
.

We have never been heads in beds. That is especially important in these times of changing travel desires. Folks are looking squarely at the place they are staying as an experience.

Or, the place they are staying is part of a grander experience, not the entire experience. Lots of people still travel to have the experience outside their place of accommodations. It's good when it all comes together but many callers say, "I just need a place to sleep, I don't want to spend too much." And there needs to be a place for these good people to stay as well. (Which harks back to my walk-ins who want to spend their money on good food and a LONG vacation rather than a short vacation where the accommodations are spendy.)
Providing accommodations across the spectrum is very important for all of our long range survival. I think we're all the best at the level we have chosen to occupy. At the least, we are all building our businesses to the best of our abilities in the market we inhabit. Where the market is changing drastically, we're adapting to the new modality.
I haven't seen too many slackers hang out here for very long. Which is good for all of us. We egg each other on to be our best.
.

Or, the place they are staying is part of a grander experience, not the entire experience. Lots of people still travel to have the experience outside their place of accommodations.

Of course they do.

"I just need a place to sleep, I don't want to spend too much." And there needs to be a place for these good people to stay as well.

Yep. It's called the Budget Inn and there is one coming to where you live soon.

Providing accommodations across the spectrum is very important for all of our long range survival.

If by "our" you mean our industry, I would say to any inspiring innkeeper that the idea of providing accommodations (in any category) is not enough. You will need to do and be more.
.

Or, the place they are staying is part of a grander experience, not the entire experience. Lots of people still travel to have the experience outside their place of accommodations.

Of course they do.

"I just need a place to sleep, I don't want to spend too much." And there needs to be a place for these good people to stay as well.

Yep. It's called the Budget Inn and there is one coming to where you live soon.

Providing accommodations across the spectrum is very important for all of our long range survival.

If by "our" you mean our industry, I would say to any inspiring innkeeper that the idea of providing accommodations (in any category) is not enough. You will need to do and be more.

Each of us runs the business we want. Our industry, the one we are both in, has room for all kinds of accommodations. (Places that offer a bed and a breakfast, all the way thru places that are resorts, everything in between.) Part of the problem with PAII, was the push for all B&B's no matter the size to be the same. Same kinds of rooms, same kinds of amenities. You remember - you must have jetted tubs, you must have Frette linens, you must greet every guest personally no matter the hour and then be perky as can be 2 hours later when you start breakfast, you must, you must, and yet so many don't have any of those things and they're very happy running the business they love.
You have an idea of what is good for you and your area. You are pursuing that. Others have different ideas, ideas that are just as valid, that they are pursuing.
We have 3-4 budget hotels in town, as the town becomes more popular we'll get more. They get the folks who want that kind of accommodation. (Lots of truckers, construction crews and the budget-minded.) We are not a budget hotel, but we are not a high end inn. Don't want to be. The next owners may decide to tear the place apart and make it a 4 room, high end destination. Their choice. The potential is certainly there. The hotel next door to us used to be a 4 room B&B. Now they have 2 Conde Nast properties with over 100 rooms. The piece of land we own here could certainly support a boutique hotel. The location is prime.
But, because you have a model you love, does not mean aspirings should follow your model. Everyone follows their own dream. Like you've taken 10 years to figure out what that dream is, others have to follow their own path.
You'll have your influencers make your place what you want it to be. Excellent. You've made all the connections you need to be successful. Excellent. But it's only one way. One path. One solution. There's a different solution for everyone. There's no 'success template' - you make your own.
If that means an aspiring wants to open a bed and breakfast and have guests stay in their home, treated well and looked after, but hey that's all I've got, then that's their dream. Telling them they have to be so much more than that will turn many good innkeepers away from this lifestyle. Saying you have to be more than that or else is saying there's only one way to succeed.

 

[MtnKeeper]

Two night minimum on all weekends year round and even midweek during peak summer and foliage times. We are a tourist destination. I do have plenty of people calling who only want one night but we only take them if it's within 3 days of their arrival. Each Wednesday evening I put any rooms left on for one night stays on Saturday and they typically fill up even at the last minute. Experience has shown that if I took a one night Saturday stay more than 3 days out, someone would call wanting a two night stay and I'd have thrown away money.