Average Length of Stay: A key metric for hotel forecasting

Some guests breeze in and out faster than you can say ‘express check-out’; others settle in like they’re moving into their forever home.

Understanding the number of days your guests typically book to stay – and why – isn’t just interesting trivia; it’s a key to smarter forecasting, stronger strategies and more profitable bookings.

In this blog post, we explore the importance of average length of stay (ALOS), how to calculate it, why it matters and what it reveals about your business.

We’ll look at how ALOS influences demand forecasting, helps shape rate strategies and signals shifts in guest behaviour. You’ll also learn how to benchmark and optimize ALOS over time using the right tools, and why this metric works best when tracked alongside others like RevPAR, ADR and occupancy.

What is average length of stay (ALOS)?

Average length of stay (ALOS) is a hotel performance metric that measures the average number of nights that guests stay during a given period.

Offering valuable insight into guest behavior, booking trends and demand patterns, this handy little acronym reveals whether your property attracts quick one-night stays, extended visits or a mix of both.

A high ALOS might indicate success with long-stay offers or corporate bookings, while a low ALOS could reflect transient or last-minute business. But there are plenty of other factors at play, which we go on to discuss.

ALOS is a foundational metric for evaluating performance both historically and competitively. As a hotelier, it helps you to understand how stay patterns are evolving, assess the impact of pricing or marketing strategies, and benchmark results against similar properties.

Whether you're forecasting demand, planning promotions or adjusting distribution strategies, ALOS offers a clear lens through which to interpret and respond to guest behavior.

How to calculate ALOS

Calculating ALOS is very straightforward. Here’s the formula:

• ALOS = total number of room nights sold ÷ total number of bookings (or stays)

For example, if your hotel sold 300 room nights across 100 bookings in a given month, your ALOS would be 3 nights.

To get meaningful results, it’s important to use consistent, up-to-date data from your property management system (PMS) or revenue management system (RMS).

Most hotels calculate ALOS monthly, but reviewing it weekly or by segment (e.g. leisure vs corporate) can offer deeper insights, and you should use the same timeframe when comparing ALOS across periods or against competitors.

Also, make sure to exclude outliers or group bookings that could skew the data, unless they represent a significant portion of your business.

Tracking ALOS regularly helps identify shifts in guest behavior and demographics, evaluate the impact of promotions, and fine-tune your forecasting and pricing strategies. So get on top of this if you’re not already!

Why is average length of stay important?

ALOS directly impacts many aspects of hotel performance, from profitability to operational efficiency.

Longer stays generally improve revenue per available room (RevPAR) by reducing the frequency of check-ins, check-outs and room turns, which in turn lowers housekeeping and staffing demands. They also lead to higher profit margins, as fixed costs are spread over more nights per booking.

Longer stays usually mean lower acquisition costs, since you’re generating more room nights from fewer transactions, making marketing and your spend on distribution more efficient.

For revenue managers, understanding ALOS trends helps shape pricing, packaging and promotional strategies that attract the most profitable guests.

However, ALOS goals vary by property type.

Urban business hotels, for example, may see shorter stays due to transient travel, while resort or extended-stay properties often aim for longer bookings. Boutique hotels may focus on curated guest experiences that influence ALOS differently from larger chains.

Aligning ALOS expectations with your market and brand strategy is key.

How ALOS influences forecasting and strategy

ALOS plays a crucial role in demand forecasting, strategic planning and wider hotel management.

By tracking how long guests typically stay, revenue managers can better anticipate occupancy patterns, adjust rate strategies, and design promotions that drive both volume and profitability. For instance, if ALOS trends upwards during your shoulder season, you might prioritize long-stay packages to fill gaps more efficiently.

Changes in ALOS can also reveal shifts in traveler behavior, such as growing interest in workcations, blended travel or budget-conscious short breaks. A sudden drop in ALOS may signal shorter booking windows or changing guest priorities, prompting a re-evaluation of pricing or inventory controls.

From a forecasting standpoint, ALOS will help you determine occupancy pacing: how quickly rooms are filling up over time. A longer average stay can accelerate pace and reduce the need for aggressive last-minute pricing, while shorter stays may increase turnover and require more frequent revenue adjustments.

In all cases, understanding ALOS trends allows you to make smarter, more agile decisions.

What is a good ALOS benchmark?

As you might expect, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to what constitutes a ‘good’ average length of stay.

ALOS benchmarks vary widely depending on location, property type, guest segment and seasonality.

For instance, a city-centre hotel catering to business travellers might average 1 to 2 nights per booking, while a beachfront resort or extended-stay property could see 4 to 7 nights or more. Understanding what’s typical for your market and comp set is key to setting realistic performance targets.

That’s where benchmarking tools – such as STR (STAR) reports or market intelligence platforms – become invaluable. These tools help you see how your ALOS compares to similar properties, enabling smarter pricing, packaging and forecasting decisions.

Tracking ALOS in isolation has limited value.

To get a full picture of performance, you should analyse it alongside KPIs like RevPAR, ADR and occupancy. This combined view helps you understand not just how long guests stay, but what that stay is worth, and how to grow both length and value over time.

Here are some other important KPIs for hoteliers to track, along with details on how to calculate them.

How to optimize ALOS

To increase ALOS, start by encouraging guests to extend their stays in ways that feel natural and appealing.

Common strategies include setting minimum stay requirements during high-demand periods, offering multi-night discounts or upselling add-on nights during booking. Tailored promotions – such as ‘stay 3, pay 2’ offers or packages that bundle extra nights with local experiences – can also be effective in boosting stay length.

However, flexibility is key.

While minimum stay rules can help during peak periods or special events, overly rigid policies may discourage bookings, reduce conversion rates or push potential guests to competitors. 

It’s a balancing act, so it's important you test and adjust these strategies based on demand patterns, seasonality and guest behavior. And remember: optimizing ALOS should be part of a wider revenue approach that considers both the value of each stay and your property's overall occupancy goals.

Tracking ALOS over time: The role of performance tools

Real-time reporting is essential for understanding how average length of stay is evolving, as well as for reacting quickly with shifting trends.

Monitoring ALOS over time helps you spot emerging patterns, assess the impact of promotions and adapt strategies before missed opportunities turn into lost revenue.

Tools like those offered by Lighthouse allow you to track ALOS alongside rate strategy, booking pace, demand forecasts and competitor pricing.

This integrated view places ALOS in the broader performance context, making it easier to align your pricing, inventory and marketing decisions with guest behavior. You can also monitor ALOS by segment or channel, helping you refine offers for different audiences.

The right tools don’t just track performance; they help uncover growth opportunities.

By surfacing data insights in real time, performance platforms empower you to test and tweak strategies confidently, improving stay length where it adds value and ensuring that your hotel remains competitive and efficient in any market condition.

ALOS is just one piece of the performance puzzle

Average length of stay is a powerful hotel industry metric for understanding guest behavior, shaping strategy and improving profitability, but it shouldn’t be viewed in isolation.

A strong ALOS doesn’t always equate to strong revenue performance if other indicators like ADR, RevPAR or occupancy are lagging.

To get a clearer and more complete picture of what’s working, you must look at ALOS in context, alongside broader data on demand, pricing and market dynamics.

When tracked with the right tools and interpreted holistically, ALOS becomes far more than a statistic; it becomes a guide for smarter, more agile decision-making.