There are three price bases to choose from when you create a Rate Type.
Per Room Per Night
Commonly used for rooms in hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses.
Based on a nightly price e.g. £100. For example, when a guest books for three nights, it'll be 100 x 3 = £300.
You can also enter a different nightly rate if a guest stays for more than a certain length of time. For example, you might charge £100 per night normally – but if a guest stays for more than four nights, this will reduce to £80 per night. So, when a guest books for five nights, the system will note the 4-night-or-more price and calculate 5 x £80 = £400.
Length of Stay
Commonly used for holiday cottages, apartments, yurts, tipis, bell tents, and other self catering rentals.
Based on a total price e.g. a 3-night price of £400, or a 7-night price of £650. The system looks at the cost for the total stay, rather than the cost of each night. So, with this previous example, the system can't return a price for a 6-night stay, but it will display £650 for a 7-night stay.
Per Person Per Night
Commonly used for campsite pitches.
Based on an adult price e.g. the adult price is £30, and a child price is £20. So a booking for two nights for two adults would be calculated as 2 x 2 x £30 = £120. If a child was staying for both of these nights too, the system would add 2 x £20 to the £120 total. So the final cost would be £160.
You can also enter a different rate for if three or more adults stay. For example, the adult price might normally be £30, but the price for three adults might be £20 per adult. So, if four adults book for one night, the system will compute 1 x 4 x £20 = £80.
Top tip for guest houses and B&Bs that advertise ‘per person pricing.’ (Feel free to skip this tip if it doesn't apply to you!)
If:
Your pricing is based on two people sharing and is higher if one person stays, or
You charge a single night supplement, or
Adults are charged at different rates (i.e. the second adult is £X and the third adult is £Y)
Then you will need Per Room Per Night, not Per Person!
Remember:
Regardless of your pricing basis, minimum stay rules and/or no check in/out rules will still work in the same way – so you can make sure your guests stay for at least X number of nights, or only check in/out on your designated change over days.