A Stay is a multi-day booking with a check-in date and time and a check-out date and time. Use it for overnight boarding, housesitting and multi-night training camps.
A Regular service cannot become a Stay after you create it. If a service is named like a night stay but its type is Regular, create a new Stay service.
Create a Stay service
A Stay service holds the pricing and the check-in and check-out windows that every stay booked on it uses.
Open Services, select New, then New Service.
Under Service Type, choose Stay.
Enter the Service Name and choose a Category, then continue to pricing.
Under Pricing Mode, choose Duration-based, Number of nights or Number of days. See Stay pricing.
After you save, open the service, then Duration & Timing, and set the Check-in & Check-out Windows. See Set check-in and check-out windows.
If pet owners should book it online, open Booking Settings and, under Self-Service Booking, turn on Online booking.
Select Publish Changes.
You cannot change the type after you create the service.
Open the stay form
Stay is on the calendar's New menu once you have a Stay service.
Open Appointments and select New.
Choose Stay.
You can also select an empty slot on the calendar and choose Stay in What would you like to add?, or select New Stay in Mission Control's quick actions.
Book a Stay as staff
Staff book a stay on its own form with three steps: Pets & Services, Timing and Review.
Open Appointments, select New, then Stay. Stay is listed once you have a Stay service.
On Pets & Services, choose the pet, the Stay service under Service for the pet, and a room under Room/Kennel for the pet, marked Required or Optional. Staff for the pet appears when the service needs a team member. To add another pet, select Add Sibling, or Create & Add Pet for a pet that is not in Petboost yet.
Select Continue, then on Timing set Check-in Date, Check-in Time, Check-out Date and Check-out Time.
Select Continue, then on Review check the stay and add any add-ons.
Select Book Stay for and the pet's name, such as Book Stay for Kiwi.
The form pre-fills check-in and check-out from the service windows. Staff can still change the times.
If the Stay service limits the days a stay can start or end on, a check-in or check-out date on any other day is marked Outside check-in days or Outside check-out days, and Days outside permitted days names the allowed days. Staff can still book the stay. Pet owners booking online can only choose the allowed days.
Set check-in and check-out windows
Windows live on the service, not on each booking.
Open Services and select the Stay service.
Open Duration & Timing.
Under Check-in & Check-out Windows, set From and Until for Check-in and for Check-out.
To limit the days a stay can start or end on, select the days under On which days? for Check-in and for Check-out. With no day selected, any day is allowed.
Select Publish Changes.
Rule | From | Until |
Exact time (locks the pet owner picker) | 16:00 | 16:00 |
Window | 16:00 | 17:00 |
Any time from | 16:00 | empty |
Any time until | empty | 17:00 |
No restriction | empty | empty |
The check-in window and check-in days apply to the first day only. The check-out window and check-out days apply to the last day only.
Pet owners can only pick a time inside the band. Staff can still change the times when they book the stay.
Windows do not add an early or late fee. For the five rules, staff override and bulk edit, see Stay Check-in and Check-out Windows.
A same-day Stay with check-out before check-in, for example 16:00 in and 09:00 out on one day, cannot be booked by a pet owner. Use a Regular daytime service, or Number of nights with a Daycare rate (same-day stays) and windows that fit on one calendar day.
Stay pricing
Each Stay service bills by one Pricing Mode, set on Pricing & Payments.
Set the pricing mode
Open Services and select the Stay service.
Open Pricing & Payments.
Under Pricing Mode, choose Duration-based, Number of nights or Number of days, then enter the rate.
Under Pricing Preview, select Try it Out and set a stay length to see what it costs.
Select Publish Changes.
Number of nights
Hotel-style. Petboost counts midnights crossed and multiplies by Rate per night.
Example: Friday 16:00 to Monday 09:00 is 3 nights.
A same-day visit, with check-in and check-out on the same date, uses Daycare rate (same-day stays) when you set one, otherwise Rate per night.
Use Number of nights when every one-night stay should cost the same regardless of the clock.
Number of days
Petboost counts calendar days, arrival and departure days both, and multiplies by the Standard Daily Rate.
Example: Friday to Monday is 4 days.
Use Number of days when you charge for every day the pet is with you, including the day they go home.
Duration-based
The default if you do not pick a mode. Petboost bills the hours from check-in to check-out in 24-hour periods, with optional per-day tiers and short-stay or spillover rates.
Example: Monday 10:00 to Saturday 18:00 is 5 days and 8 hours. Five full periods use the unlocked per-day tier. The remaining 8 hours use a spillover tier if you set one.
Early or late times change the price only in this mode, because they add hours. That extra is spillover, or another 24-hour period, not a separate late-checkout fee.
Use Duration-based when a later pickup should cost more than a 09:00 pickup.
Extended stay discounts
Every mode can give a longer stay a lower rate. Add tiers under Extended Stay Discounts on Pricing & Payments. The tier the whole stay reaches prices every unit of it: every night on Number of nights, every calendar day on Number of days, and every 24-hour period on Duration-based.
Example on Number of days at $90 a day with a 14 to 55 days tier at $81: a 19-day stay is 19 × $81 = $1,539.
Short-stay and spillover rates apply on Duration-based only. Switching Pricing Mode keeps your tiers.
Field-by-field setup and the 24-hour examples are in the Service Pricing Guide.
Check a stay in
Select Check in on the booking, or drag it to In Progress on Mission Control, when the pet arrives. With Pay on Arrival on for the service, the check-in takes the set percentage of the stay from a live card hold or the saved card, and the stay stays open until check-out. A stay paid in full at check-in settles as Paid when it is checked out, with no second charge. See Take a payment at check-in.
During the stay
Mark arrival and departure on the appointment, and add extras either as an add-on on the stay or as their own appointment.
To mark arrival or departure, open the appointment on Appointments and select Check in or Check out.
A Stay can take two kinds of extra service. An add-on stays on the Stay invoice. Extra time on an add-on does not move check-out. An appointment during the stay has its own time, team, room and invoice.
Your team records feeds, medication and health checks for every pet in house, round by round, in Rounds & Tasks. The rounds each pet is on come from the Stay service's care schedule. See Choose the rounds a stay is on.
On a stay, the first tab is Overview. The Rounds & reports card on Overview lists yesterday, today and tomorrow, and shows only when a team form applies to the stay. View Everything opens the Rounds & reports tab, which lists every day. The Tasks card lists the stay's tasks by day, and shows only when the stay has tasks. To add a task, open Manage on the appointment and select Add task. Nothing in Rounds & Tasks messages the client, and a task never takes a slot or capacity. See Rounds & Tasks.
When the stay is checked out, the client's booking shows a stay summary: the reports they can see, photos, weights and the extras delivered, never a price. The Stay summary card on the appointment shows what the client sees. See The stay summary.
Choose the rounds a stay is on
A Stay service with no care schedule saved puts its pets on every round, following each booking's check-in and check-out times. To change which rounds a stay's pets are on:
Open Services and select the Stay service.
Open Duration & Timing.
Optional: on the Rounds & Tasks card, to start from another service's schedule, choose it under Copy from another service.
Under Care schedule, set each round:
Arrival day: Follows check-in time, Always or Never
Full days: on or off
Departure day: Follows check-out time, Always or Never
Optional: under Bath on the day they go home, from (nights), enter the shortest stay that gets a departure bath. It applies only while the departure bath rule is on in Settings, Tasks. Leave it empty to use the rule's number of nights.
Select Save.
With Follows check-in time, a round before check-in on arrival day is skipped. With Follows check-out time, a round after check-out on departure day is skipped. If your business has no rounds yet, the card links to Settings, Rounds instead.
Add an add-on to the stay
Use this when the extra does not need a time slot of its own, for example a walk, a bath or medication.
Open the Stay appointment on Appointments and edit it, or create the stay from New, then Stay.
On Review, add the extra from the add-on tiles.
To choose the days, the times and who does it, select Schedule next to the extra. See Schedule an extra on a stay. To charge it without a schedule, set its quantity instead.
Select Book Stay for the pet, or Update the pet's Stay when you are editing. The Stay invoice updates.
To schedule an extra that is already on a booked stay, open the stay and select Schedule next to the extra on its Tasks card, then select Save Changes on the invoice.
Each visit of a scheduled extra is a task for your team in Rounds & Tasks. An extra with no schedule becomes tasks only when its Delivered as is set to something other than Not a task. See Turn an extra into tasks.
Book appointments during the stay
Use this when the extra needs a time slot, team member or room, for example a Wash Tidy with Magic Availability. Each day becomes its own appointment, linked to the stay.
Right after you book the stay, with Stay on page chosen:
Select Add daytime appointments.
On Days, choose Every day, Weekdays or Pick days. Only days of the stay can be picked.
On What, choose the Regular services for each pet. To book something different on one day, open Different on some days.
On Times, Magic Availability Check finds a time for each day. Pick another time, Force or Skip this day where it asks. With the check off, set a start time instead.
On Extras and book, add any extras and choose Send confirmations or Book quietly, then select Book with the number of appointments.
From a stay that is already booked:
Open the Stay appointment on Appointments.
On the Appointment tab, under During this stay, select Schedule during stay, then follow steps 2 to 5 above.
The Day by day tab on a Stay appointment lists every day of the stay with what is booked on it. Select Add on a day to book that day. An appointment marked Not linked was booked outside the stay and still happens on that day.
If you start from New, then Appointment, and pick a Regular service on a date inside the stay, Petboost explains that the service is its own appointment during the stay. Select Book during stay.
Owners can see the stay day by day in their app, and book an appointment during the stay from Book during this stay. It is linked to the stay when its day falls inside the stay.
A Stay and a Regular service cannot share one appointment, so Petboost does not offer Add to visit on the stay.
To extend a stay, edit the appointment and change the check-out date. Pricing recalculates from the service Pricing Mode.
Include a free service in the stay
Use this when a stay includes a bath, brush-out or departure bath at no charge, and you want it on the calendar with your other grooms.
Create a Regular service priced at $0, for example Complimentary Bath & Blow Dry. Give it the same room or team members as your paid bath, so it takes the same time and you cannot double book it. You only do this once.
Book it with Schedule during stay as above. For a weekly bath, choose Pick days and tick one day each week.
Each bath is its own $0 appointment linked to the stay, so you do not need to change any invoice. An add-on from the add-on tiles stays on the Stay invoice and does not show on the calendar as its own appointment.
Move a pet to another room during a stay
A room move keeps one stay as one booking with one price while the pet changes rooms part way through. A pet can move once a day, with no other limit. There is no service setting to switch on for staff bookings.
When the rooms swap
A move happens at the stay's check-out time on the chosen date. With a 10:00 AM check-out, the rooms swap at 10:00 AM. Any padding on the service holds each room around the move, the same way it holds a room around check-in and check-out.
This means a pet can move into a room another pet leaves that day, and a new arrival can take the room after the move.
For example, Bella's stay has a 10:00 AM check-out and she moves to Kennel 3 on 23 December, the day Max checks out of it. Bella holds Kennel 1 until 10:00 AM and Kennel 3 from 10:00 AM, so Max needs to be out of Kennel 3 by then. Another dog can arrive in Kennel 1 that afternoon.
Fit a stay when no single room is free for every night
Petboost always tries one room first. To see the options, check availability on the stay form:
If a different single room fits, the form shows A different room is free for every night. Select Use these rooms to take it.
If no room holds every night, the form shows No single room is free for every night. Switch on Let this stay change rooms to see the fewest moves that fit, then select Use these rooms.
Let this stay change rooms sits above Check Availability and is off for each new stay. A booking with moves shows it on. Switching it off removes the moves from the stay.
For example, Bella stays 20 to 27 December and no kennel is free for all seven nights. Kennel 1 is free until 23 December and Kennel 3 is free from then. Switch on Let this stay change rooms, check availability, then select Use these rooms. The stay is now Kennel 1 until 23 Dec, then Kennel 3, as one booking with one price.
Move a pet with Move Room
Use Move Room when plans change once the booking is made. It shows on a stay of at least one night that has a room, while the booking is Pending, Confirmed or In Progress. A paid booking is locked, so Move Room does not show on it.
Open Move Room from any of these places:
The booking: select Manage, then select Move Room.
Appointments: right-click the stay, or select Manage on its hover card, then select Move Room.
Mission Control: select the booking to open its quick actions, then select Move Room.
Then:
Under Room, choose the room.
Under Move on, choose the date.
Optional: To bring the pet back before check-out, switch on Move back before check-out and choose the Move back on date.
Check After this move, then select the button that names the pet.
The price stays the same and the pet owner is not sent a message. If the room is not free for all of the move, Petboost shows a warning and the button changes to Move anyway.
If Move on is check-in day, Petboost changes the first room instead of adding a move. A move already inside the dates you choose is replaced.
For example, a pipe bursts in Kennel 2 while Rocky is staying. Select Move Room, choose Suite 1 and leave Move on on today.
To cover a chunk in the middle of a stay, use Move back before check-out. For example, Luna needs the quiet room for two nights after surgery. Select Move Room, choose the quiet room, set Move on to 12 December, switch on Move back before check-out and set Move back on to 14 December. Luna goes back to the room she left.
Plan a room move on the stay form
Use the form when you already know the dates of the move.
Open the stay on Appointments and edit it.
Under the pet's room, find Room moves and select Add room move.
Choose the date and the room. The date must be after check-in and before check-out.
Save the stay.
Add room move shows only when the pet has a first room, the stay has a date left to move on and you have more than one room. Add one move for each change of room. Each pet on a stay has its own room moves.
A room that is full shows a warning, and you can still save the move. Attendance limits and pets kept apart apply to each room for the dates the pet is in it.
Let online stays change rooms
Online bookings change rooms only if you allow it. The setting is off by default, applies to the whole business and shows only if you sell stays.
Open Booking Settings.
Switch on Advanced options.
Switch on Let online stays change rooms.
Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.
With the setting on, an online stay that no single room holds reads as available and is booked with the fewest moves. The pet owner does not choose this and sees a normal booking.
For example, an owner books 20 to 27 December online and no kennel is free for all seven nights. With the setting on, the booking goes through and you see the moves on the booking.
A recurring online stay does not take room moves.
Change a stay that has room moves
A room move does not change the price. To charge more for the second room, change the price of the stay line.
These changes affect the moves on a stay:
Shorten the stay in the form. If a move no longer fits, the form asks you to change or remove it before you save.
Drag the stay on the calendar. A stay moved to new dates keeps each move on the same night of the stay. Petboost keeps the moves that still fit the new dates and rooms and drops the rest.
Drag the stay on Mission Control. In the Roster and Resources views, you cannot drop a stay with room moves onto another room. Open the booking and use Move Room.
A client edits their own stay. Petboost keeps the moves you set, shifts them with the stay and drops any that no longer fit.
Where room moves show
Room moves show here:
Mission Control shows the pet in the room it is in on the day you are viewing. Moving rooms today on Coming & Going lists each pet changing rooms that day.
The calendar's room columns show one bar for each room, and both rooms show the pet on the day of the move. A stay with moves shows the move icon on its bar. Drag the first bar to move the whole stay.
The run sheet for a day, the TV view and Rounds & Tasks name the room for the day.
The booking page and the kennel card list the rooms in order with the date of each move.
Mission Control's week view shows the room each stay opens in, and so does a run sheet printed for the week. Vacancy counts in that view use the same room. To see where a pet is on a given day, switch to the day view.
Pet owners are never shown a stay's room or a room move, online or in the client's app. Petboost does not message the client about a room move.
Room moves do not add a waitlist. If no set of rooms holds every night, an online stay is unavailable for those dates.
Hide a Stay from online booking
Use this if you agree handover times with each customer and do not want the Stay on the booking form.
Open Services, select the Stay service, then open Booking Settings.
Under Self-Service Booking, turn Online booking off.
Select Publish Changes.
Create bookings on Appointments from New, then Stay.
Payments, the calendar and resources still work. See Internal-only services.
Troubleshooting
The Stay does not appear on the booking form
Check the service type is Stay, not Regular, and that Online booking is on under Self-Service Booking. The type cannot be changed after you create the service: create a new Stay if the existing service is Regular.
A leftover 4pm time will not clear
Fixed Start Time is a Regular field, and Stay Duration & Timing hides it. An old Regular value can still sit on a Stay record after a conversion. The next time you publish a change to the Stay service, Petboost clears it. If it is still there after you publish, use Speak with the team.
Price is not a flat night rate
Open Pricing & Payments. If Pricing Mode is Duration-based, which is also what an unset mode means, change it to Number of nights and enter Rate per night.