You can cancel a Direct booking at any time, whether it is pending or accepted. What happens next depends on the booking status and who initiates the cancellation.

This article explains how to cancel a booking, how cancellations affect payments, and how to handle pending bookings.

Once a booking is cancelled or expires, it cannot be restored. A new booking must be created if the guest wants to rebook

Before You Start

Cancellation behavior depends on the booking status:

Pending bookings or quotes → Can be canceled immediately (no payment is captured)
Accepted bookings → Can be cancelled and may involve refunds based on your cancellation policy

Pending bookings include:

Guest booking requests
Custom quotes you’ve sent to guests

Cancelling a booking removes it from your calendar and stops any further actions for that reservation.

How to Cancel a Direct Booking

Go to the reservation in your Inbox or Calendar
Click Cancel booking or Cancel from the Pending Quote Card on the conversation
Confirm your action

The booking will be cancelled immediately.

Reservation view in Hospitable with the Cancel booking button visible

What Happens When You Cancel a Booking

Canceling a Pending Booking

If the booking is pending:

The booking is canceled immediately
The blocked dates are released on your calendar
No payment is collected

This is typically used when:

The guest is no longer proceeding
You need to make changes before the booking is completed

Cancelling an Accepted Booking

If the booking is accepted:

The booking is cancelled
The dates are released on your calendar
Any future scheduled payments are not charged

Refunds depend on:

Your cancellation policy
The amount already collected from the guest

How Cancellation Affects Payments

When a booking is canceled:

Only payments already collected are considered for refunds
Future scheduled payments are automatically canceled
Refund amounts are calculated based on your cancellation policy
Refunds generally take 5–10 business days to appear in the guest’s account, depending on the guest’s bank and payment provider.
In some cases, refunds may be processed faster, appearing within 1–5 business days.

If the booking is canceled due to a missed payment:

The same rules apply
Refunds are still based on your cancellation policy and collected payments

Refunds and payment outcomes depend on your payment terms and cancellation policy settings.

Also see: Direct Booking Refunds

Common Reasons for Refund Delays or Failures

Unsettled Payments: If the guest's payment has not yet been captured at the time of cancellation, the refund cannot be processed until the payment status updates to "Settled." This process may take up to 24-48 hours.
Insufficient Funds in Payment Processor: Refunds may fail if the host's connected payment processor (e.g., Stripe) does not have sufficient funds.
Non-Refundable Bookings: Refunds are not issued for bookings that are in a non-refundable state as per the cancellation policy.

Steps to Resolve Refund Issues

For Insufficient Funds: Add funds to your Stripe balance for Direct Basic and process the refund there. For Direct Premium, contact support to process a top-up on your account and refund. Alternatively, issue the refund off-platform and settle with the guest through your preferred method.

Host vs Guest Cancellation

Refund behavior depends on who cancels the booking:

Guest cancellations → Refunds are calculated based on your cancellation policy. Hosts may use the Send or Request Money feature to issue a refund more than the eligible amount.
Host cancellations → The guest receives a full refund automatically, hosts cannot process a manual refund amount.

If you cancel a booking as the host, the guest is always refunded in full, regardless of your cancellation policy.

Cancel vs Let a Booking Expire

For pending booking requests, you can either cancel or take no action.

Cancel the booking → Dates are released immediately
Take no action → The request expires after the allowed time and dates are released automatically

Canceling is recommended when you want to immediately free up availability.

When to Cancel vs Alter a Booking

Cancel the booking if:
- The reservation should not go ahead
- You need to restart the booking process
Alter the booking if:
- You only need to update dates, pricing, or details

Also see: Alter a Direct Booking