How to Use Flexible Stays to Fill Calendar Gaps and Earn More

Context and Overview

Holidu's Flexible Stays feature allows you to unlock booking opportunities during calendar gaps that would normally be unavailable due to your minimum-stay requirements or fixed check-in and check-out day rules. By activating Flexible Stays, you can make those purple gap nights bookable without changing your standard property settings. This means you can capture short-stay demand that you'd otherwise miss, especially during peak seasons when over 20% of searches are for short stays.

How to Activate Flexible Stays

You can configure Flexible Stays from either the Discounts section or directly from your Calendar. Both methods lead to the same outcome.

Activating from the Discounts Section

1. Log in to your Holidu account and select the property you want to update
2. Click on "Configuration" in the left-hand menu
3. Scroll down and click on "Discounts"
4. At the bottom of the page, locate the Flexible Stays section and click "Configure"
5. Select your preferred minimum stay option for gap periods: 1, 2, or 3 nights
6. Set your nightly rate increase up to 50% above your current standard price
7. Click "Activate" to confirm and enable the feature

Activating from the Calendar Section

1. Navigate to your property calendar
2. Click on any purple gap indicator to open the Flexible Stays configuration panel
3. Choose your minimum stay requirement: 1, 2, or 3 nights
4. Increase the nightly price up to 50% above your standard rate
5. Click "Activate" to enable Flexible Stays for that gap

What Are the Benefits for You?

• More bookings: Short-stay nights become available during high-demand periods when guests are actively searching
• Better visibility: Over 20% of peak-season searches are specifically for short stays, expanding your potential guest pool
• More reviews: Each additional booking is another opportunity to receive valuable guest feedback and build your property's reputation
• Higher ranking potential: Having bookable gaps supports your property's performance in Holidu search results
• Less manual work: No need to manually adjust your calendar for each individual gap or create complex blocking patterns

Things to Keep in Mind

• Flexible Stays only affects calendar gaps where your current settings would prevent bookings
• This feature overrides your existing minimum-stay and check-in/check-out day requirements for those specific periods
• When a Flexible Stay gap is booked, check-in and check-out can occur on any day of the week
• Once a booking is confirmed, the special pricing and stay rules apply only to that reserved period
• Flexible Stay bookings will appear clearly tagged in your calendar so you can easily identify them
• You maintain full control and can deactivate the feature anytime from the same configuration menu

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I exclude certain dates from Flexible Stays?

Currently, activating Flexible Stays applies to all gap nights that meet your configured settings. However, you retain the ability to manually block any specific dates you prefer not to open for short-stay bookings.

Do guests see the purple gaps on the calendar?

No. The purple gap indicators are visible only to you as a host management tool. They highlight where bookings are currently being missed, helping you identify revenue opportunities.

Can I change my Flexible Stays settings later?

Yes. You have complete flexibility to update, modify, or disable your Flexible Stays configuration at any time through the same configuration menu where you activated it.

What happens if a guest books a Flexible Stay?

When a guest books a gap night through Flexible Stays, the special pricing and minimum-stay rules you configured apply only to that specific reservation. Your standard settings remain unchanged for all other bookings and gaps.

Can I set different pricing for different gaps?

Yes. You can configure Flexible Stays individually for each calendar gap by clicking on the purple indicator in your calendar, allowing you to adjust both minimum stays and pricing based on different periods and demand levels.

Will Flexible Stays affect my existing reservations?

No. Flexible Stays only applies to currently available gaps in your calendar. Existing bookings and your standard booking rules remain completely unchanged.