Respond to Hipcamp booking requests before they expire

1. Open the Hipcamp Inbox, choose All at the top of the thread list and switch the filter to Pending to see the requests still waiting for an answer.
2. Open each request thread and read the camper's introduction message, dates, site and group size; the camper's phone number sits in the Calendar if a call is quicker.
3. Click Accept or Decline in the message thread. In the email you can do the same from the buttons, and US hosts with a mobile number can text back Accept, Decline or Decline On, adding the booking number when several requests wait.
4. The US text reply Decline also blocks the requested nights, while Decline On keeps them open. After a decline from the email or Inbox, check those nights in Calendar > Bulk Edit and block them if needed, or the next camper requests the same dates.
5. A message to the camper does not count as an answer. Hipcamp only counts Accept or Decline, so a friendly question sent at night still lets the request expire at the 24-hour mark.

Check my pending Hipcamp booking requests. Accept stays of 1 to 4 nights for up to 4 guests if the camper's note raises nothing odd, decline requests for nights I have closed, and ask me about anything else before it expires.

1. 01

   Start from the deadline

   The agent pulls pending requests and orders them by expires_at. A request with under two hours left goes first, and if your OK is needed for it, the agent says so at the top of its message instead of in a list.

2. 02

   Read the camper, not just the dates

   get_booking returns the introduction message and the group. The agent checks your rules: nights, guests, pets, arrival time, vehicle. A note like "we are a group of 8 for a birthday" on a site for 4 is flagged, not accepted.

3. 03

   Check the calendar before saying yes

   get_calendar for the requested nights confirms the site is still open. If you blocked those nights after the request came in, or another booking now covers part of the stay, the agent proposes a decline instead of an accept.

4. 04

   Decline with a reason and close the gap

   For a decline caused by closed or unsuitable dates, the agent drafts a short note to the camper and, after the decline, offers to block the same nights with block_dates so no one else requests them. A decline for group size or pets leaves the calendar open.

5. 05

   Hand back what does not fit a rule

   Requests the rules do not cover stay pending and go to you with a one-line summary and the time left. The agent never sends a message instead of an answer to buy time, because Hipcamp would still count the request as expired.

Pending requests: 4 (Willow Creek Farm)
Accepted: Jon P., Meadow, 23 to 25 Oct, 2 guests and a dog, note "arriving after 5 pm" (your OK given)
Accepted: Priya S., Creekside, 24 to 26 Oct, 3 guests
Declined: Tom B., Meadow, 31 Oct to 2 Nov, you closed those nights for reseeding; dates blocked so no new requests come in
Waiting for you: Hale family, Creekside, 7 guests on a 4-guest site, expires today 16:40

• Hipcamp's policy asks hosts not to decline or expire more than 20% of booking requests, and Hipcamp may reach out to a host who passes that line.
• Hipcamp shows campers your response rate on the Site page once you have had 3 booking requests, based on the last 5; your acceptance rate stays private on your dashboard.
• A declined or expired Hipcamp request cannot be accepted later; the camper has to submit a new request.
• Star Host status on Hipcamp needs an average response under 6 hours and a 100% response rate, so one expired request costs the badge until later requests rebuild it.
• Hipcamp holds the camper's funds when the request arrives and charges only on accept; after a decline the pending hold can stay on the camper's card for up to 7 business days.

accept_booking_request and decline_booking_request ask for your OK by default. To run it twice a day without you, switch confirmation off for those tools in your dashboard.

Sources: Hipcamp Help: Accepting or Declining a Booking Request · Hipcamp Help: Policy on responding to requests to book · Hipcamp Help: How acceptance rate, response rate and response time are calculated · Hipcamp Help: What is a Star Host?

curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/hipcamp/accept_booking_request \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"booking_id":"bk_90217","message":"Welcome, Jon! Late arrival is fine; the gate code comes the day before."}'

{
  "booking_id": "bk_90217",
  "status": "confirmed",
  "site": "Meadow",
  "arrival": "2026-10-23",
  "departure": "2026-10-25",
  "total": 90,
  "currency": "USD"
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is hipcamp_accept_booking_request. Example data.

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