Length of Stay (LOS) is the number of nights a guest stays at a hotel during a reservation. It is an important metric in hotel revenue management because it helps hotels understand booking patterns, forecast demand, and optimize room availability.
Formula
Length of Stay (LOS) = Departure Date − Arrival Date
LOS is generally measured in nights, not calendar days.
Practical Example
A guest checks in on October 20 and checks out on October 24.
Length of Stay = October 24 − October 20 = 4 nights
If the guest extends the reservation by two additional nights, the total length of stay becomes 6 nights.
How to Interpret Length of Stay
Understanding LOS helps revenue managers evaluate how guests book and how reservations affect room availability across multiple dates.
Longer stays can reduce the number of room turnovers and provide more predictable occupancy across several nights. However, a long reservation is not automatically more profitable than a shorter one. Its value depends on the nightly rate, demand on each night, operating costs, and the opportunity to sell those rooms to other guests.
Revenue managers may use LOS patterns to develop minimum-length-of-stay restrictions during high-demand periods and to encourage longer stays on dates with weaker demand.
Related Terms
Minimum Length of Stay (MinLOS) · Shoulder Dates · Demand Forecast · Booking Pace · ADR · RevPAR · Market Segmentation