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How to block last-minute bookings past a certain time

Set a cut-off on your Amenitiz booking engine to stop accepting new reservations past a number of days before arrival or a specific time of day. Applies globally to all rooms, does not cascade to OTAs.

Overview

If you don't want to accept last-minute bookings on your booking engine, you can set a cut-off — either a number of days before arrival, or a specific time of day on the day of arrival. Past that point, your booking engine refuses new reservations and shows a custom message you write.

Before you start

  • The cut-off applies globally to all accommodations on your booking engine. You can't enable it for one room type only.

  • It only affects bookings made through your Amenitiz booking engine. It does not cascade to OTAs (Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb) — to apply a similar cut-off there, change each OTA's settings directly on its extranet.

  • You can keep accepting last-minute bookings by phone or email after the cut-off — the limit only blocks the self-service booking engine. Use the custom message to display your phone number for those guests.

Step-by-step

  1. In the sidebar, go to Booking engine → Settings.

  2. Open the Options tab.

  3. Find the Limit new bookings section.

  4. Set Do you want to prevent new bookings past a certain date? to Yes.

  5. Under Time limit, fill the two fields:

    • Days before arrival — set to 0 for "same day", 1 for "block bookings the day before arrival", etc.

    • Hour (24-hour format) — the time of day past which the engine stops accepting bookings.

  6. Pick your time zone so the cut-off fires at the right local moment.

  7. Optional: fill in Custom message if you are not accepting any more booking for the day. Leave blank for the default Amenitiz message; write your own to include your phone or alternative contact.

  8. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

💡 Example

To stop accepting bookings for tonight after 5 pm, set days = 0 and hour = 17. To block all same-day bookings entirely, set days = 0 and hour = 0.

FAQs

Can I apply a different cut-off to different room types?

No — this is a single global setting that covers all room types on your booking engine. For per-room minimum-stay or advance-notice rules, look at the rate plan restrictions in Booking engine → Pricing instead.

Will OTAs also stop selling after my cut-off?

No. OTAs continue to sell on their own schedule. To apply a similar last-minute cut-off on Booking.com, Expedia or Airbnb, log into the OTA's extranet and set their booking-cut-off there directly.

What does the guest see when they hit the cut-off?

A message telling them no more bookings are accepted for that day. By default it's Amenitiz's generic copy; if you filled in Custom message if you are not accepting any more booking for the day, the guest sees your text instead. Use it to give them a phone number or email for last-minute requests.

Can I take last-minute bookings off-platform?

Yes — the cut-off only blocks the self-service booking engine. You can still add the booking yourself in the admin via Add a reservation, and process payment manually.

I changed the cut-off — does it apply retroactively to existing bookings?

No. Existing bookings stay confirmed. The new cut-off only affects bookings made after you saved the change.

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