Sales and revenue
Overbooking (hotels)
Overbooking in hotels means deliberately accepting more reservations than there are rooms available, to offset cancellations and guests who do not show up.
1 min read · Updated: September 28, 2026
Hotels overbook for the same reason airlines do: some guests cancel late or never arrive. Selling exactly the number of rooms available leaves empty rooms on many nights. The risk is the reverse: if everyone turns up, someone will not have a room.
How it works in practice
Example: a 100-room hotel knows from history that on Fridays about four bookings end as no-shows or late cancellations, so it accepts 103. If everyone arrives, the duty manager has to “walk” a guest to a comparable or better hotel nearby, usually at the hotel’s expense, with transport and an apology.
Good practice:
- base overbooking levels on historic data by day of week and season,
- agree walk arrangements with nearby hotels in advance,
- avoid walking loyal guests, families and multi-night stays.
How technology helps
Overbooking levels are set in the PMS, revenue management system or channel manager. hotelspot does not manage room reservations; it connects to the hotel’s PMS through integrations.
Frequently asked questions
- What happens when a hotel is overbooked?
- The hotel usually moves (walks) a guest to a similar or better hotel nearby, covering the cost and transport.
- Why do hotels overbook?
- To make up for cancellations and no-shows, so rooms do not stay empty.