No-show

No-show is a guest with a confirmed reservation who fails to arrive on the scheduled check-in date and does not cancel beforehand. From the hotel's perspective, no-shows are a form of lost revenue that the cancellation policy may or may not recover.

How hotels handle no-shows

• Non-refundable bookings — the hotel typically charges the full first night (or full stay) automatically
• Guaranteed bookings — credit card on file is charged for at least the first night
• Non-guaranteed bookings — the hotel may release the room after a cut-off time (commonly 6 PM) and lose the revenue

Why it matters

No-show rates feed into:

• Wash forecasting — projected occupancy adjustments
• Overbooking decisions — how aggressively the hotel can sell beyond physical inventory
• Channel performance analysis — some OTAs and segments produce systematically higher no-show rates than others

Related concepts

• Cancellation — the guest actively notifies the hotel they aren't coming
• Wash — combined effect of cancellations + no-shows on the forecast
• Walk — when an overbooked hotel relocates a guest who arrived for a confirmed booking