In this article · 6 sections
Two situations cost small hotels money and reputation: the hotel no-show (a room held but nobody came) and the overbooking (a guest with a booking but no room). Both need a written plan before they happen.
Reducing no-shows
- Ask for an advance or card guarantee for peak dates
- Send a WhatsApp confirmation the day before and ask for arrival time
- For "pay at hotel" OTA bookings, mark no-shows correctly in the extranet so you can charge where allowed
- Keep a waiting list on busy nights
When to release a room
State a release time in your policy, for example: "Unguaranteed bookings are held until 6 PM unless the guest informs us of late arrival." Then follow it consistently.
Charging no-shows
Charge only according to the policy the guest accepted. See hotel cancellation policy. For OTA bookings, follow that platform's no-show process. Don't contact the guest's bank yourself.
Preventing overbooking
- Use a channel manager so every channel closes when the last room sells
- Don't keep rooms "outside the system"
- Mark rooms out of order in the PMS immediately when maintenance is needed
If you are overbooked: "walking" a guest
- Decide early in the day who will be moved. Avoid VIPs, repeat guests and late-night arrivals with families
- Book an equal or better room at a nearby hotel, at your cost
- Arrange and pay for the transport
- Apologise honestly at the desk and give something extra: a free night later, meal voucher or upgrade on return
- Call the guest the next morning
A guest who is well looked after often writes a positive review about how you handled it.
FAQs
Is overbooking on purpose a good idea?
Some large hotels overbook slightly based on data. For small properties the risk to reviews is usually not worth it.
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