Probably the most crucial part of setting up a new listing... your rates! You need to configure and assign rates to each unit that you want to publish on your website or online channels. Otherwise, how will guests book?
In CiiRUS, you create a rate set. A rate set contains your seasons, date bands, and rates. You then assign the rate set to your units. You can create a rate set for each individual unit, or you can create one rate set that you assign to multiple units. These units would share the same date bands and rates.
Each rate set contains date bands. A date band is a period of time for which a unit rental rate is valid. For example, from 11/11/2023 to 12/31/2023, the rate is $150 per night for the high season. You could then add another date band from 1/1/2023 to 2/30/2023 for the low season, and so on.
Where to go
To build your rate sets, navigate to:
Reservations
Pricing & Fees > Edit Rates
The screen consists of two tabs:
Rate Sets: This is where you'll create your rate sets with dates, seasons and pricing.
Assign Rate Sets to Units: This is where you'll assign a rate set to each unit.
Create a rate set
The first step is to create a rate set. This could be a unique rate set for one unit or a generic rate set that applies to multiple units. For example, a condo complex with 10 identical condos could use a generic rate set called "2 Bedroom Standard Condos."
To create the rate set:
Click "Add New Rate Set."
From the popup window, enter the name of the rate set.
Choose "Nightly Rates" as this is what the channels support. (Weekly or Monthly are only supported for direct reservations that you place in the system)
Press the "Add" button
Add date bands
After creating the rate set, you can add dates, seasons, and rates from a date band.
To add the first date band, click Actions and select Add New Date Band.
From the popup window enter the details:
Dates: Use the datepickers to select the dates for this period.
Season name: Enter a season name, such as "Mid season".
Nightly rate: Enter the nightly rate for these dates.
Minimum Night Stay: Enter the minimum nights the guest is required to book for this date period.
Press "Save."
Within a season, you likely have certain dates or even weekends where the price is higher. You can go back and overlap these rates on top of the season you're adding later.
The newly created date band will appear as a row in the grid. You can make any changes if you need to directly in the grid.
Repeat this process of adding date bands until at least three years of rates are configured. Remember, a guest won't be able to quote or book if you don't have rates configured.
Increased holiday or event rates
You can overlap a date band with your standard rate to increase the rates for specific days, such as holidays or events. For example, if you have a date band for Oct/12 - Jan/31 and you want to increase the rates for Thanksgiving weekend, you can overlap a date band for Thanksgiving weekend onto the existing date band.
To do so, click on Actions and select Add New Date Band.
In the popup window, specify the following details for Thanksgiving:
Dates: Use the datepickers to select the dates in November that you want to increase the rates for.
Season name: Enter a season name, such as "Thanksgiving".
Nightly rate: Enter the nightly rate for these dates.
Overlap rates: Check the box to overlap the rates and specify 0 days to repeat.
Press "Save"
You'll see a new row for Thanksgiving in the grid separating the two other date bands:
Increased weekend rates
You can follow the same process of overlapping a holiday or event for higher weekend pricing. For example, you could choose to overlap the rates every 7 days to increase Friday and Saturday night.
To do so, click on Actions and select Add New Date Band.
In the popup window, specify the following details for the weekend:
Dates: Go back to the first Friday and Saturday of the date band. You may need to go back a few months from the datepickers.
Season name: Enter a season name, such as "Weekend mid season".
Nightly rate: Enter the nightly rate for the weekends.
Overlap rates: Check the box to overlap the rates and specify 7 days to repeat. This will repeat the rates every Friday and Saturday within the date band.
Click "Save".
The grid will display the weekday and weekend pricing for the entire date range:
Delete a rate set
Deleting a rate set is simple.
Make sure you have the right rate set selected and then click on the "Actions" button and select Delete Rate Set.
