Hotel Rules

Hotel rules define the constraints for hotel bookings. Each rule can specify locations, price limits, star ratings, and other restrictions.

Rule Components

A hotel rule consists of:

1. Location matching - Which destinations this rule applies to
2. Price limit - Maximum price per night
3. Star ratings - Which hotel ratings are allowed
4. Constraints - Maximum nights, advance booking
5. Action override - Optional override for this specific rule

Location Matching

Rules match hotels based on destination:

Priority

More specific rules take precedence:

1. Hotels in Dubai (Priority 10)
2. Hotels in UAE (Priority 50)
3. All hotels (Priority 100)

Price Configuration

Set a maximum price per night:

• Amount: Maximum allowed per night (e.g., 150)
• Currency: USD, EUR, GBP, IQD, SAR, AED

Example:

• Max $150/night for domestic hotels
• Max $250/night for international hotels

How Price is Evaluated

The system compares the hotel's nightly rate against the rule's limit:

• Rate ≤ Limit: No violation
• Rate > Limit: Violation with excess amount

Star Rating Configuration

Control which hotel ratings are allowed:

Example configurations:

• Standard policy: 3, 4 stars allowed
• Executive policy: 3, 4, 5 stars allowed
• Budget policy: 2, 3 stars only

Unrated Hotels

Hotels without ratings are treated permissively:

• If the rule specifies ratings: Unrated hotels may or may not match (implementation-dependent)
• Best practice: Consider how your company handles unrated properties

Additional Constraints

Maximum Nights

Limit the length of stay per booking:

Use case: Prevent excessively long hotel stays that should be handled differently (e.g., corporate housing).

Advance Booking

Require bookings to be made a minimum number of days in advance:

• Example: 5 days advance booking
• Violation: Booking 2 days before check-in
• Use case: Encourage early booking for better rates

Action Override

By default, violations use the policy's default action. For specific rules, you can override:

Example:

• Policy default: REQUIRE_APPROVAL
• 5-star hotel rule: Override to BLOCK

This means:

• Most violations → Require approval
• 5-star hotel bookings → Blocked entirely

Example Rules

Domestic Standard

Location: Any city in Iraq
Price: 100 USD per night
Stars: 3, 4 stars
Max Nights: 7
Advance: 3 days
Action: (use policy default)

Gulf Region Business

Location: Any city in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar
Price: 200 USD per night
Stars: 4, 5 stars
Max Nights: 10
Advance: 5 days
Action: (use policy default)

Luxury Block

Location: All hotels
Price: (any over $350/night)
Stars: 5 star only
Max Nights: (any)
Action: BLOCK (override)

This rule catches luxury hotel bookings and blocks them.

Extended Stay Warning

Location: All hotels
Price: (any)
Stars: (any)
Max Nights: 14+ nights
Action: REQUIRE_APPROVAL (override)

This ensures very long stays get manager review.

Creating Effective Rules

Start with Common Destinations

1. Create city-specific rules for frequent destinations (Dubai, Riyadh)
2. Create country-level rules for regions (Gulf countries)
3. Create a catch-all rule as fallback

Balance Price and Quality

Consider the trade-off:

• Too strict: Employees book poor-quality hotels
• Too lenient: Costs increase

Recommendation: Allow 3-4 star hotels at reasonable rates. Use 5-star only for executives or special occasions.

Set Reasonable Night Limits

Use Location-Specific Pricing

Hotel prices vary dramatically by city:

Create city-specific rules for high-cost destinations.