Extending or shortening your temporary stay

Key rules

• Free-cancellation deadline: Check it before you shorten, because unused nights are refunded only if you change the booking before it.
• Seasonal rental: Leaving before the end of the fixed term is a breach unless your contract allows it.
• Approval: On a platform, the host must approve any extension or change, so get the new dates confirmed in writing.
• High season: Ask for an extension as early as you can, because the next guest may already be booked.

Platform policies, discounts and notice periods vary by listing and contract, so check the terms on your own booking or with your host.

The short answer

Ask early, ask in writing, and check your cancellation terms before you shorten. Extending depends on whether the next guest is already booked. Shortening usually refunds little, unless you change the booking before the free-cancellation deadline.

How to extend

How you ask depends on where you are staying.

• Tourist flat booked through a platform: use the platform's messaging or change-booking tool. The host has to approve, so allow 24 to 72 hours.
• Tourist flat or aparthotel booked directly: ask the manager or reception, ideally a few days ahead.
• Hotel: ask at reception, usually the day before. Allow 24 to 48 hours on flexible rates. It always depends on availability.
• Seasonal rental, room or coliving: ask your landlord or manager. For coliving, expect to give 15 to 30 days' notice.

Ask the host to confirm the new dates and any price difference in writing. The message template below can help.

What an extension costs

The nightly rate is usually the same. It can rise in high season. It can fall if a discount applies.

Long-stay discounts are common. Platform hosts often offer weekly discounts from 7 nights, typically 5 to 15%. Monthly discounts start from 28 nights, typically 10 to 30%. Aparthotels often give long-stay rates from 7 or from 28 to 30 nights. Monthly furnished rentals are usually priced as a monthly rate that often includes utilities.

If you deal with the owner directly, off the platform, you can often negotiate a better rate.

High season limits extensions

In high season, the next guest is often already booked, so the host may simply say no. Ask as soon as you know you want more time. If the answer is no, ask whether another unit in the same building is free. Otherwise look for a second place early, rather than the week you leave.

How to shorten

What you get back depends on the rate you booked.

• Non-refundable rate: no refund for unused nights.
• Flexible or moderate platform policy: unused nights are refunded only if you change the booking before the free-cancellation deadline.
• Stay already under way: hosts commonly refund some or none of the unused nights. The first night and the cleaning fee are often not refunded.
• Hotel: early check-out is usually non-refundable.
• Direct monthly rental: the contract decides. Any deposit comes back after inspection, typically within days to weeks.

Platform policies vary by listing. Some hosts use Flexible, Moderate, Firm or Strict terms, with a free window such as 24 hours, 5 days or 30 days before check-in. Read the terms on your own booking. Exceptions for extenuating circumstances exist, but they are narrow.

Seasonal rentals, rooms and coliving

In a seasonal rental (arrendamiento de temporada), the fixed term binds both sides. There is no legal right to leave early. Leaving early without the contract allowing it is a breach. Typical contract clauses are:

• 15 to 30 days' written notice
• loss of the deposit
• a penalty of one or more months' rent
• rent until the end of the term

A court can reduce a penalty in some cases. For a room in a shared flat, notice is commonly 15 to 30 days or one month. In coliving it is usually 15 to 30 days.

Give notice in writing and keep a copy. If your seasonal contract is really for your permanent home, a court may treat it as a normal lease, which gives you more protection. That depends on the facts, so get advice before relying on it.

Count back from your dates

Once the notice window passes, expect to pay for the unused nights. Work back from your leave date, add a buffer, and send the notice before that date. The timeline and checklist below set this out.

Notice windows for early or late check-out and extension

Notice windows by stay type

• Hotel: ask for late check-out or an extension at reception: The day before, or 24 to 48 hours ahead on flexible rates; early check-out is usually non-refundable

• Tourist flat booked through a platform: send the change request and wait for the host to approve: Allow 24 to 72 hours; the platform's cancellation policy decides any refund

• Seasonal rental (temporada): give written notice as your contract says: Often 15 to 30 days' written notice; the law gives you no right to leave early, so the contract rules, and early exit usually means no refund, losing the deposit or paying rent for the notice period

• Coliving: give notice to leave, and ask for an extension: 15 to 30 days' notice to end the tenancy; ask about an extension within the same 15 to 30 day window, and earlier if you can

• After the window passes: expect to pay for unused nights: Unused nights are charged in full, the cancellation fee can rise to 100% of the booking, extensions are not guaranteed and may cost the current higher price, and late check-out can cost an extra night

• Count back from your lease start: take the day you get the keys, allow a buffer, then subtract the notice period: Plan about 3 to 7 days between checking out and getting the keys, then count back the notice for your stay type from that check-out date. Count from a start date only if it is written, dated and unconditional

Checklist

• Find your cancellation policy or rate type (free cancellation until a deadline, or non-refundable) in your booking.

• Send your extension or shortening request through the platform's messaging or change-booking tool, or to the manager or reception for a direct booking.

• Send the request at least a few days ahead, and allow 24 to 72 hours for a platform host to approve it.

• Keep the host's written reply before you rely on the change.

• Ask for a weekly discount if your stay reaches 7 nights, or a monthly discount if it reaches 28 nights.

• If you are shortening, send the request before the deadline you found in the first step.

• Check the notice in your contract if you rent a seasonal flat, a room or a coliving space, commonly 15 to 30 days in writing.

• Ask early for an extension in high season, when the next guest may already be booked.

What to watch out for

• Shortening may refund little or nothing: Non-refundable rates give no refund for unused nights. For a stay already under way, hosts often refund some or none, and the first night and cleaning fee are often kept. Change the booking before the free-cancellation deadline, and ask what would be refunded before you confirm.

• Leaving a seasonal rental early can be a breach: A seasonal contract has no legal right for you to end it early. Unless the contract allows it, leaving early can cost the deposit or a penalty, and any penalty must be expressly agreed in the contract and kept within the limits that apply to compensation for leaving early. Read the notice and penalty clauses first, then ask your landlord in writing to agree an exit date. A penalty can sometimes be reduced by a court if you have already stayed part of the term.

• A seasonal contract for a permanent home may be treated as a normal lease: If you really live there as your permanent home, a court can treat the contract as an ordinary lease. Then you can leave with 30 days' notice after six months. Get legal advice before relying on this.

Message to ask your host to change or extend your stay

Copy this message, fill in the blanks, and send it. For a booking made through a platform, send it through the platform's messaging system. For a direct booking, send it by email, or by WhatsApp followed by the same text in an email. Write in the language of your listing or contract. If your host is local and may need the message as evidence, add a short Spanish translation.

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Subject: Request to change my stay – [booking reference]

Hello [host's name],

My name is [your name]. I am staying at [address] under booking reference [reference].

My current dates are check-in [date] and check-out [date], for [number] guests.

I would like to change them to check-in [new date] and check-out [new date].

I understand the price for the new dates would be [total price], which is [extra amount] more or less than now. I accept this extra cost: [yes/no, or the most you can pay].

Could you please confirm in writing:

1. that the new dates are available,
2. whether the deposit and cancellation terms stay the same.

If you agree, please also accept the change through the platform's change-request tool [delete if this is a direct booking], so it is recorded on the booking.

Please reply by [date and time]. I have to make other plans for those nights if I do not hear from you.

Thank you, [your name] [phone number]

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If the host does not reply

Silence is not a yes. Do not treat the new dates as agreed until you have a written confirmation.

1. Wait 24 hours. If your dates are close, wait less. If they are further off, you can wait up to 48 hours.
2. Follow up in a second channel. Write again in the same place, then try another one: a call, WhatsApp or email. Repeat the deadline in your message.
3. Contact platform support if there is still no answer and you booked through a platform.
4. Line up a fallback at the same time. Book a refundable place for the extra nights, or arrange luggage storage. Pay only if the booking has free cancellation. Cancel it once the host confirms in writing.

Frequently asked questions

Will I pay the same nightly rate if I extend?

Usually yes, but it can rise in high season. It can fall if a weekly or monthly discount applies. Asking the manager directly, off the platform, often gets a better rate.

From how many nights do long-stay discounts start?

Weekly discounts usually start at 7 nights and are typically 5-15%. Monthly discounts start at 28 nights, and tourist flat hosts typically discount nightly rates by about 15-40% for monthly stays.

Can I get a refund for unused nights if I leave a seasonal rental early?

Usually not, because a seasonal contract binds you for its full term. Leaving early without a clause allowing it can cost you the deposit, a penalty of one or more months' rent, or rent until the end of the term.

Do I get my money back if I shorten a stay already under way?

Usually only a little or none of it, depending on the host and the rate you booked. Hosts commonly refund some or none of the unused nights, and the first night and cleaning fee are often not refunded. Non-refundable rates give nothing back.