Why does an XML message show the wrong number of guests?

When a reservation is retrieved, the number of guests is always included in the XML message.

Sometimes you might spot what looks like a discrepancy between the information in the reservation, the rate booked and how many guests are arriving at a property.

In most cases, this is simply down to the type of pricing type the property is using, and the rate selected by the guest when making the reservation.

For standard pricing, the room rate reflects maximum room occupancy – in other words, the rate doesn’t drop if fewer people stay.

The exception to this, within standard pricing, is the single-use option, where a property can configure a different rate for single guests staying in a room which in theory should have a higher occupancy.

However, it is also possible to configure different rates for different occupancies. For example, the property can configure different rates on their triple room that correspond to one, two or three guests.

When it comes to children, the property can set the maximum age that children can stay for free in a room. If children are under this age limit, they won’t be counted in the total number of guests.

In the example below, an apartment has maximum occupancy set at 4.

It also has two different rates:

- A standard rate, which only has the two-person option.

- A non-refundable rate, which doesn’t have a specified occupancy, so it uses the maximum occupancy (4 guests), and also gives the option of setting a single-use price.

If a reservation is made with the standard rate it will always refer to two guests, which is displayed in XML as:

<numberofguests>2</numberofguests>

If a reservation is made with the non-refundable rate it will refer to four guests, which is displayed in XML as:

<numberofguests>4</numberofguests>

If the booker indicate the group size as 3 guests and select the non-refundable rate, then the information will be displayed in XML as:

<numberofguests>3</numberofguests>

However, since occupancy is not defined for this rate, the price will be for the maximum occupancy of four guests.

How can I see a guest’s occupancy searches before booking?

If you’d like to see the occupancy searches that guests make before booking, you can enable relevant features. Read more about this in the article Child Pricing, Occupancy, Guest Count and XML.