| Purpose | Use this article to understand how Booking Engine Plus filters work, how guest steppers behave, and how guests can filter or sort accommodation results. |
| Best for | Property admins, general managers, revenue managers, marketing managers, and users who manage the guest booking experience. |
| Use this when | You need to understand why Booking Engine search results or displayed room prices change based on guest occupancy, amenities, accommodation type, or rate-sorting options. |
| Requirements | Permission to review or edit Booking Engine settings and accommodation setup when configuration changes are needed. |
| Expected result | You can explain how Booking Engine filters affect accommodation results and displayed prices, why guest steppers may show different default values, and how price sorting changes rate order. |
| Limitations | Some filters prioritize matching accommodations instead of hiding all non-matching accommodations. Other available accommodations may remain visible and bookable. |
Introduction
Cloudbeds Booking Engine Plus filters help guests narrow or order accommodation results by occupancy, amenities, accommodation type, and rate-plan price. The discovery filters help guests find stronger matches while keeping other available options visible when possible. Price sorting reorders accommodations and rate plans without hiding available rates.
This article explains how the main Booking Engine filters work together, how guest steppers behave after a search, how price sorting changes rate order, and why some results may still appear after a guest applies a filter. It also explains how URL parameters can affect results even when a filter is hidden from the Booking Engine search panel.
Booking Engine filter settings apply only to the Cloudbeds Booking Engine. They do not change OTA filters, distribution channel content, or channel mapping.
Table of contents
- Who this affects and how
- Booking Engine Plus filter types
- Guest occupancy filter and guest steppers
- Amenities, accommodation type, and rate filters
- URL parameters and filter behavior
- Which Booking Engine filter option should I use?
Who this affects and how
Filter settings affect how properties configure the Booking Engine and how guests search and compare available accommodations:
| Role | What to know |
|---|---|
| Property admins and general managers | Review the available filter types and their required setup before deciding which options guests can use. |
| Revenue and marketing managers | Review the amenities, accommodation type, and rate filters to understand how guests find and compare available accommodations and rates. |
Booking Engine Plus filter types
Booking Engine Plus includes filters that help guests search by party size, preferred amenities, and accommodation type, plus an option to sort rates by price. Each option uses different setup information from Cloudbeds PMS.
| Filter | What it does | Required setup |
| Guest occupancy filter | Lets guests search by total guests or by adults and children. | Occupancy settings configured for each accommodation type. |
| Amenities filter | Lets guests filter accommodations by selected amenities. | Amenities configured at the accommodation level. |
| Accommodation type filter | Lets guests filter results by accommodation type, such as Standard, Deluxe, Suite, Cabin, or other configured types. | Accommodation types configured in Cloudbeds PMS. |
| Rates | Lets guests keep the default rate order or sort rates from low to high or high to low. | Sort by price enabled in Booking Engine settings. |
To turn filters on or off, go to Account Menu → Settings → Booking Engine → Settings → Filters. For a full settings overview, see Booking Engine Settings page overview.
Guest occupancy filter and guest steppers
The Guest occupancy filter controls how guests search by party size on the Booking Engine. It also affects how adult and child selections carry into the booking flow and, when extra-person pricing applies, whether those charges can be reflected in the accommodation card price during the initial search.
Review the filter options and guest stepper behavior below to understand how each setup works. Then see how the selected occupancy option can affect the price shown in Booking Engine search results.
Default guest selection
Booking Engine searches default to 1 guest. This keeps the broadest set of accommodations visible when guests first open the Booking Engine.
- For dorm-style properties, defaulting to 2 guests may exclude dorm rooms from the initial results.
- For properties using occupancy-based pricing, defaulting to 2 guests may increase displayed rates before the guest has selected their actual party size.
The image below shows the Booking Engine search panel with 1 Guest selected by default. Guests can open this field to change the number of guests before searching.
Guest occupancy filter options
The Guest occupancy filter can be configured in three ways:
| Option | How it works |
| Total guests | Guests enter the total number of people in their party. The Booking Engine checks whether each accommodation can support that total occupancy. It does not split guests into adults and children. |
| Adults and children | Guests enter adults and children separately. The Booking Engine checks the maximum adults and maximum children allowed for each accommodation. |
| Do not show | The guest selector is hidden from the Booking Engine search panel. All available accommodations can appear in the initial search results, but URL parameters may still affect filtering if they are included in the shared link. |
The image below shows where the Guest occupancy filter is configured in Booking Engine settings. The dropdown includes Total guests, Adults and children, and Do not show.
Guest stepper behavior
Guest steppers are the adults and children selectors guests use after search results are displayed. Their default values depend on the guest occupancy filter option and the selected accommodation's pricing setup.
The examples below show how each Guest occupancy filter option affects the selector guests see before searching and the stepper values they see after results are displayed.
Switch between the tabs below to compare how the guest selector and steppers behave for each Guest occupancy filter option.
With Total guests, guests select one total party size before searching. The Booking Engine checks whether each accommodation can support the total number of guests, without splitting the party into adults and children.
In this example, the guest opens the selector and chooses 2 Guests before searching.
After the search, the results page shows accommodations that can support the selected guest count. Guests can open the Filters panel to adjust the total number of guests before applying the filter again.
With Adults and children, guests select adults and children separately before searching. The Booking Engine checks each accommodation's adult and child occupancy rules.
In this example, the guest selects 4 Adults and 1 Child before searching.
After the search, the results page keeps the same adult and child values in the Filters panel. This helps the guest understand that results are based on the exact party composition.
When Do not show is selected, the guest occupancy field is hidden from the Booking Engine search panel. Guests can start a search without selecting a party size.
In this example, the search panel shows check-in, check-out, promo code, and Search only. The guest selector is not displayed.
If a shared Booking Engine URL includes guest-related parameters, those parameters may still affect results even when the guest selector is hidden from the search panel.
Occupancy-based pricing may update when guests adjust the adult or child steppers during the booking flow.
The Guest occupancy filter also affects pricing when your property charges different extra-person amounts for adults or children.
How guest occupancy affects the room card price
- With Adults and children, the Booking Engine knows how many guests are adults and how many are children. This allows it to calculate applicable adult or child extra-person charges and reflect them in the room card price.
- With Total guests, the Booking Engine receives only the combined number of guests. Because extra-person pricing can differ for adults and children, the room card cannot determine which extra-person charges apply from that combined count alone and may display the base price instead.
If your property uses extra-person pricing for adults or children, use Adults and children as the Guest occupancy filter. This lets the Booking Engine use the guest breakdown when calculating applicable extra-person pricing in search results.
Amenities, accommodation type, and rate filters
Guests access the Amenities, Accommodation types, and Rates options from the same Filters control. Amenities and accommodation type filters prioritize stronger matches, while the Rates option orders accommodations and rate plans by price without hiding available rates. Expand each section below to review how the corresponding option changes the results.
Amenities filter behavior
When the amenities filter is enabled, guests can select one or more amenities from the Booking Engine filter panel. The Booking Engine prioritizes accommodations that include the selected amenities.
- The filter uses amenities configured at the accommodation level.
- When guests select multiple amenities, accommodations that include all selected amenities are prioritized.
- Other available accommodations may still appear lower in the results and remain bookable.
If no accommodations have amenities configured, the Amenities filter has nothing to display.
The image below shows the Amenities filter expanded in the Booking Engine filter panel. Guests can search for amenities and select one or more options, such as accessible bedroom, air conditioning, balcony, electric kettle, or parking.
This example shows a guest selecting Accessible bedroom. The matching accommodation appears first in the results, while other available accommodations can remain visible lower on the page.
Accommodation type filter behavior
When the accommodation type filter is enabled, guests can filter available accommodations by type, such as Standard, Deluxe, Suite, Cabin, or other types configured for your property.
- Matching accommodation types appear first in the results.
- Other available accommodation types may still appear lower in the results and remain bookable.
- The filter uses the accommodation types configured in Cloudbeds PMS.
The image below shows the Accommodation types filter expanded in the Booking Engine filter panel. Guests can select one or more configured accommodation types, such as Private Room, Deluxe Ensuite, dorm room, or Private Villa.
This example shows a guest selecting 4 Bed Mixed Dorm Room. Matching accommodations appear first, while other available options can remain visible lower in the results.
Amenities and accommodation type filters are additive discovery filters. They help guests find stronger matches while keeping other available options visible when possible.
Sort rate plans by price
Properties can allow guests to sort accommodations and their available rate plans by price. The property must first enable Sort by price under Account Menu → Settings → Booking Engine → Settings → Filters. The setting is off by default.
When enabled, the Rates section appears in the guest-facing filters before and after a search. Guests can choose one of the following options:
| Option | How results are ordered |
|---|---|
| Show all rates (default order) | Keeps the property’s existing accommodation and rate order. |
| Sort rates: low to high | Orders accommodations by their lowest available rate and orders the rate plans within each accommodation from low to high. |
| Sort rates: high to low | Orders accommodations by their highest available rate and orders the rate plans within each accommodation from high to low. |
Guests can select a rate order before running a search. They must click Apply to apply the selection:
After the guest applies a price sort, every accommodation expands to show its rate plans in the selected order. All rate plans remain visible; the sort only changes their order. While the sort is active, it overrides the property’s collapsed rate-plan display preference:
Select Clear All to return to the default rate order and restore the property’s configured collapsed or expanded rate-plan display.
URL parameters and filter behavior
Booking Engine links can include parameters such as adults, kids, guests, checkin, checkout, room_type, rate_plan, and promo. When these parameters are included in a shared URL, they can affect the Booking Engine results.
Even if the guest selector is hidden from the Booking Engine search panel, the accommodations page can still respect guest-related URL parameters when they are included in the link.
This can happen with links from Google Hotel Search, allotment blocks, targeted room or rate plan links, promo links, or manually created Booking Engine URLs. The Booking Engine setting controls what guests can select from the user interface, while URL parameters can still pass search values into the booking flow.
Which Booking Engine filter option should I use?
Choose the filter setup that best matches how you want guests to search and compare accommodations.
| Use this option | When |
| Total guests | You want guests to search using one combined party size. If your property uses different extra-person pricing for adults or children, the room card may display the base price because the search does not provide an adult and child breakdown. |
| Adults and children | You want guests to enter the exact adult and child breakdown during the search. This also allows applicable adult or child extra-person pricing to be reflected in the room card price. |
| Do not show guest selector | You want to hide the guest selector from the Booking Engine search panel while still allowing guests to choose occupancy later in the booking flow when applicable. |
| Amenities filter | You want guests to search by features such as parking, air conditioning, balcony, accessibility, or other accommodation-level amenities. |
| Accommodation type filter | You want guests to search by accommodation categories, such as room type, suite, cabin, dorm, or other configured accommodation types. |
| Sort rates by price | You want guests to order accommodations and their available rate plans from low to high or high to low without hiding any rates. |
Be mindful of third-party or manually created links that include guest, room, rate plan, date, or promo parameters. These links may still affect results even when a related selector is hidden from the Booking Engine interface.
Related articles
Now that you understand how Booking Engine filters, guest steppers, and rate sorting affect results, review these resources for troubleshooting guidance and related accommodation setup:
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