Guest did not show up (no-show): what to do step by step and how to protect yourself

It is 7 p.m., check-in time began long ago and the guest is silent. They do not pick up, do not reply, the door code is unused. The apartment is ready, the linen fresh, and it looks like nobody is coming tonight. That is a no-show: a guest not arriving without cancelling the booking. It happens to every host and follows different rules from an ordinary cancellation. Below: what to do when it happens, and how to set yourself up so the next one hurts less.

A no-show is not a cancellation

With a cancellation the guest cancels the booking, and what happens to the money follows from your cancellation policy. With a no-show the guest cancels nothing. They do not appear and give no sign of life. For you this is the worse scenario: you lose a night (often more than one), you have no time to find a replacement, and the date was "taken" to the end, so nobody else could buy it. That is why with a no-show the guest usually bears the cost of the booked stay, at least the first night and often the whole thing, depending on the rules.

The first hours: procedure

1. Do not assume the worst at once. A late train, a traffic jam and a dead phone happen more often than a deliberate disappearance. Contact first, decisions after.
2. Reach out on several channels. SMS, phone, a portal message and email. Write calmly: "We are expecting you, the apartment is ready, please let us know your planned arrival time." Sometimes the guest forgot to say they would arrive late.
3. Allow a reasonable window. Wait until a set limit (e.g. midnight or the end of the check-in day) before treating the booking as not fulfilled.
4. Write everything down. Times of contact attempts, message text, no read receipts. That documentation is key if the guest later disputes a charge or leaves a bad review.
5. Only then act financially and release the date. Details below.

Can you keep the money or charge the guest

That depends on how you secured the booking and what rules applied to the guest when they booked. The most common variants:

• You have a deposit. On a no-show the deposit as a rule is forfeited in your favor. That is why you take it. It is the simplest situation.
• A portal booking with a no-show fee. If you set a policy that provides for a no-show charge, the portal usually lets you collect the fee from the guest's card (most often for the first night or the whole stay, depending on the rules). Follow the portal's procedure and its deadlines.
• Pre-authorization or card details as a guarantee. On a no-show you can usually charge the card under the accepted terms.
• You secured nothing. You are left with an empty night and no tool to collect anything. That is the worst variant and the one you want to avoid in future.

A charge must have a basis in rules the guest accepted. So the no-show policy has to be written down before the guest books, not invented after the fact.

Try to win the night back

Before you write the date off, check whether it can still be sold. With a no-show that is hard, because it comes to light late, but it is possible:

• release the date in the calendar immediately once you treat the booking as not fulfilled;
• with a multi-day no-show you have a chance of reselling the following nights. List them last minute, on your own channels and on social media too;
• consider a small discount on the nights you are rescuing. Any zloty is better than an empty room.

How to set yourself up for the future

1. Always secure the booking. A deposit on direct bookings, a card guarantee or a no-show policy on portals. An unsecured booking invites trouble.
2. Write the rules into your terms and at booking. What happens on a no-show, until what time you wait, how much you charge and from what. The guest should know this up front.
3. Send a reminder before arrival. A message the day before with the time and check-in instructions catches some of the forgetful and gives the guest a chance to warn you of a delay. Some no-shows are plain misunderstandings.
4. Make self check-in easy. A keypad lock and clear instructions mean a late arrival does not end in "I won't make it, I'll skip it".
5. Tell a no-show from a late arrival. A guest who lets you know at 2 a.m. is not the same as one who vanished. Match the tone of your messages so you do not offend someone stuck on the road.

How to tie it together

A no-show hurts least when everything works together: a deposit collected at booking, rules in the terms accepted by the guest, an automatic reminder before arrival and a calendar that immediately releases the date for resale. That is easiest to set up when you run bookings through your own system rather than scattered across portals. erphome.pl keeps it in one place: a deposit and terms at direct booking, guest reminders and calendar sync. A date released after a no-show goes straight back on sale on all channels.

Cheat sheet

• A no-show is not a cancellation. The guest cancels nothing, so they usually bear the cost of the booked stay.
• Contact first (SMS, phone, portal, email), then decisions. It may be a plain delay.
• Document contact attempts and the lack of response. It helps in a dispute over a charge or a review.
• The money depends on the security: a deposit is forfeited, a card or a portal no-show policy lets you charge the guest, and without security you get nothing.
• Rescue the following nights: release the date and list it last minute.
• For the future: a deposit or guarantee, clear terms, a reminder before arrival, easy self check-in.