You can use restrictions in Mews Operations to stop guests from making reservations that meet certain conditions. This gives you more control over your reservation management. You can apply restrictions to rates, and space types in your property(s), to control how guests book them. Revenue managers can view and organize restrictions in Mews Operations in a list, or in a calendar view. 

Note:

• Mews reflects restrictions starting from midnight but only sends them to channel managers at check in time.
• Restrictions you apply at the property level, such as closed to stay or minimum length of stay, do not automatically apply to availability block rates. You can choose whether to apply these restrictions to availability blocks. Learn how to do so in How to modify restriction settings for availability blocks. When you exclude availability block rates from global restrictions, availability blocks follow only the restrictions you set on the block rate or associated rate group. 

 

You can learn more about managing restrictions here. 

In this article you can learn about: 

• How to create restrictions 
• Setting different types of restrictions 

 

How to create restrictions  

You can create an individual restriction or create multiple at once.

To create restrictions: 

1. In Mews Operations, go to the main menu  > Settings > Services. 
2. Click on your bookable service. 
3. From the Settings menu, click Restrictions. This takes you to the following screen: 

Note: You can also access the "Restrictions" section of your bookable service directly from the main search bar by typing in "restrictions".  

4. Click the Restriction icon. 
5. On the Create new restrictions form that opens, you can define the type of restriction(s) and when you want Mews to apply them, as below: 

 

Restriction details: Click the drop-downs to define the type of restriction(s), and the conditions under which the restriction applies. For example, block guests from booking weekends in August only with a Closed to stay restriction, and choose Active from start of 1/08/23, Active until end of 31/08/23, and to Repeat on Saturday and Sunday.  

 

 

Fields marked with * are mandatory: 

• Restriction type*: Choose the type of restriction you want to create. For example, Closed to stay, Closed to arrival, or Closed to departure. 
• Active from start of/ Active until end of: Choose the start and end dates for the restriction(s) you are creating. 
• On days*: Choose on which days you want the restriction(s) to apply. Note: Mews applies restrictions only on days within the date interval you specify. 

Rates: Choose the rates to apply your restrictions to. For example, block guests from accessing a specific rate by creating a restriction and selecting Exact rate > Flexible Summer 2023.  

 

If you select Exact rate, Base rate, or Rate Group, you can select multiple rates at once using the dropdown that appears. This is useful to create or delete restrictions in bulk and save time. Note: Selecting multiple rates creates multiple, and individual, restrictions. 

• All rates: Create restrictions for all rates at the property level. 
• Exact rate: Create restrictions for one or more specific rates.  
• Base rate: Create restrictions for one or more specific base rates.  
• Rate group: Create restrictions for one or more rate groups. 

Spaces: Choose the spaces to apply your restrictions to. For example, block guests from booking a certain space category by creating a restriction and selecting Space category > Apartment.  

 

If you select Space category or Space type, you can select multiple spaces at once using the dropdown that appears. Note: Selecting multiple spaces creates multiple, and individual, restrictions. 

• All spaces: Create restrictions for all spaces at the property level. 
• Space category: Create restrictions for one or more space categories. 
• Space type: Create restrictions for one or more space types. 

Exceptions: Choose the exceptions to your restriction(s) based on how you want to apply them. For example, to block guests making shorter bookings with a restriction, and choose a Minimum length exception of 2 nights. 

Note:  

• To avoid being blocked by a restriction, a guest’s reservation needs to meet all the exceptions. 
• If you set a restriction to apply to channel manager reservations, you need to create a separate restriction for each exception type. 

 

You can first choose how to apply the exceptions, by clicking on the drop-down menu, as below. You can choose from: 

• Merge with existing exceptions: The system merges exceptions for any existing restrictions that share the same conditions. Any exceptions left blank remain unchanged.
• Replace all exceptions: The system replaces exceptions for any existing restrictions that share the same conditions and removes any exceptions that you leave blank. Note: You can see a banner that flags this, as below.

You can choose exceptions for the following options:  

• Minimum advance: Minimum number of days in advance to make a booking. 
• Maximum advance: Maximum number of days in advance to make a booking. 
• Minimum length: Minimum number of nights to stay. 
• Maximum length: Maximum number of nights to stay. 
• Minimum price: Minimum price of the booking. 
• Maximum price: Maximum price of the booking. 
• Currency: Currency used for all restrictions with minimum or maximum prices set.   

6. Click Continue. This takes you to the Review changes screen, where you can see a summary of any changes and restrictions you are creating. You can review any restrictions you are creating, deleting, or any restrictions that remain unchanged. For example:

 

• When creating restrictions, the preview table shows all restrictions that you are creating. For example: 

 

• When creating restrictions that are less restrictive than existing ones without exceptions, the preview table flags this. Note: Restrictions without exceptions are more restrictive than restrictions with exceptions and always take priority. For example:

 

7. Review your changes. To make any edits, click Go back, and repeat the previous steps.  
8. To confirm your selection, click Create restrictions.  

This creates your restrictions. You can view your new restrictions in the List view, as before. Scroll down, or use the Filters, to find your new restriction(s). 

You can learn more about editing and deleting restrictions here.  

 

Setting different types of restrictions   

You can set up and create the following types of restrictions in Mews Operations. Click the relevant link to learn how to create each type of restriction: 

• Close restrictions: 
  • Closed to arrival: Prevents guests from making a reservation with an arrival time during the  time period you set.
  • Closed to departure: Prevents guests from making a reservation with a departure time during the  time period you set. 
  • Closed to stay: Prevents guests from making a reservation with nights that occur during the time period you set. 
• Length of stay: Prevent guests from making a reservation if it is shorter or longer than the length of time you specify. 
• Advance booking: Prevent guests from making a reservation at your property unless it is made a certain number of days in advance. 
• Price restrictions: Prevent guests from making a reservation if a single night costs less or more than the price you specify. 

 

You can learn more about how to manage restrictions here.