Yes, you can set a minimum and maximum rental duration per item in WPRentals, including options like minimum 2 hours and maximum 7 days. Each listing has its own length rules, so one property can accept short bookings while another only allows longer stays. The booking form checks every request against those limits and stops anything too short or too long before the guest sends the booking.
How does WPRentals handle minimum and maximum rental duration per listing?
You can set different minimum and maximum stay limits for every rental listing.
In WPRentals, each listing has a pricing and booking rules panel where the owner can set minimum and maximum nights. One apartment can allow 2 to 5 nights, while another can accept up to 30 nights as a general rule. The theme reads those values and uses them every time a guest picks check in and check out dates.
The booking form in WPRentals enforces these limits in real time. When a guest chooses dates, the system counts the nights and blocks the request if it’s shorter than the minimum or longer than the maximum. At first this seems harsh. It isn’t. The form shows a clear message so guests see why they must change their dates.
These limits help keep stay patterns under control without writing code. You can use the max nights field to cap stays at 30 nights, and the min nights field to demand at least 3 nights or any other number you choose. Every property in a multi owner marketplace can have a different combination, so a city studio might allow 1 night visits while a villa only accepts week long bookings.
Can I mix hourly and daily bookings and still limit duration per item?
Hourly rentals can use custom minimum and maximum hours for each bookable item, while daily rentals use nights.
WPRentals has a global switch that decides if the booking logic works by day or by hour. When you choose hourly mode, each listing gains options to set price per hour plus minimum and maximum hours per booking. In daily mode, the same idea works with nights instead of hours, so owners keep tight control over how short or long a stay can be.
This setup supports mixed sites where some listings are hourly and others are daily. WPRentals can show a meeting room that rents by the hour next to a villa that rents by the night, on one platform. In an hourly example, you can set a meeting room to require at least 2 hours and allow up to 10 hours per booking, while a camera rental might allow only 4 to 6 hours.
Custom price for period works with hours too, which helps you tune duration around special dates. You can define a special date range, raise the hourly rate, and still keep the listing’s own min and max hours checked by the form. Here the mix of hourly or daily mode with per listing limits can feel like a lot of knobs. But that is the tradeoff if you want fine control without custom code.
| Mode | Per listing duration limits | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Daily booking | Minimum and maximum nights per stay | Villas apartments holiday homes |
| Hourly booking | Minimum and maximum hours per booking | Meeting rooms studios equipment |
| Mixed site | Some listings hourly others daily | Marketplaces with varied inventory |
| Custom period pricing | Special rules tied to date ranges | Holidays events peak seasons |
The table shows how one site can cover very different rental types while keeping clear limits per item. Owners choose daily or hourly behavior for their listing, then set min and max duration that match that business case. The booking engine keeps those rules active in every search and calendar check.
How do seasonal rules, weekends, and special dates affect min and max stays?
Seasonal rules let you raise or lower the minimum stay for specific calendar periods without losing max limits.
In WPRentals, the custom price for period option can override the usual minimum stay for a chosen date range. Owners open the calendar, mark a period such as 20 December to 5 January, and set a higher minimum nights value just for that span. The standard minimum might be 2 nights, while Christmas week requires 5 nights, so the theme checks against the stronger rule when those dates appear.
Weekend pricing and rules can run at the same time as these seasonal settings. You can still have a different rate for Friday and Saturday while also forcing a longer minimum during a festival week. Turnover and buffer day options in WPRentals (WordPress rentals theme) stack on top, helping you avoid same day changeovers or control which weekdays guests can arrive or leave.
This kind of stacking matters when you want both flexible and strict behavior at once. A coastal house could allow 2 night visits most of the year, move to 7 night minimums in August, and still use a max 30 night cap for everything. The booking form checks the date span against the base listing rules and any special period rules so the final behavior always follows the tightest match. Sometimes it feels like too many settings, then you hit a busy season and you’re glad they exist.
Can each owner fine‑tune duration rules in a multi‑owner marketplace setup?
Every owner in a marketplace can configure their property’s stay length limits through their own dashboard.
WPRentals gives each owner a front end dashboard where they can edit listings without logging into the WordPress admin. Inside the pricing or booking settings, an owner sets min and max stay values that match that property’s needs. One host might want a 1 night minimum and 10 night maximum, while another prefers 3 night minimums and 21 night caps.
The marketplace admin can still define global defaults that new listings start with. Owners then change those defaults at listing level so the theme keeps a base standard but allows local control. Once an owner saves new duration limits, the booking form for that single property updates right away, so every new search and request respects the fresh rules.
I should admit something here. For many owners this kind of freedom is both nice and a bit tiring. They like control, then feel they have to tweak every single listing, and it can slow them down. But the alternative is worse, because shared rules rarely fit all properties in a real marketplace.
FAQ
Can I really set something like minimum 2 hours and maximum 7 days on one listing?
Yes, a single WPRentals listing can enforce a 2 hour minimum and a 7 day maximum for bookings.
To do this on an hourly item, switch the site to hourly booking mode and open that listing’s settings. Set the minimum booking length to 2 hours and set the maximum time span, such as 168 hours for 7 days. The booking form blocks any request outside that range, so guests can’t book just 1 hour or 10 days for that item.
Can one villa have a 2‑night minimum normally but 5‑night minimum at Christmas?
Yes, you can keep a 2 night normal minimum and demand 5 nights only for a Christmas period.
In WPRentals, set the villa’s general minimum stay to 2 nights in the main pricing rules. Then use the custom price for period tool on that listing to mark your Christmas dates and assign a higher minimum stay, such as 5 nights. When guests pick dates that touch that period, the calendar enforces the 5 night minimum only for that villa.
Do I need custom code to configure per‑listing duration limits and pricing rules?
No, you do not need any custom code to set per listing duration limits and pricing rules.
All duration and pricing controls live inside the WPRentals interface as simple fields and calendar tools. Owners and admins can define min and max stays, seasonal minimums, discounts, security deposits, and taxes using clicks and numbers. The theme combines these values in its price calculation so min and max stays work alongside other rules out of the box.
Do min and max stays still work when I add weekly or monthly discounts?
Yes, minimum and maximum stay rules stay active even when you enable weekly or monthly discounts.
WPRentals first checks whether the requested stay length fits within the allowed min and max range for that listing. If the dates are valid, the theme then applies any length of stay discounts, like lower prices after 7 nights or 30 nights, plus any extra costs. Guests see one final price that already respects both the duration rules and the discount logic.
