# Mark Hostelworld no-shows automatically

> Your agent checks Hostelworld arrivals against check-ins and marks no-shows before the one-night window closes at 23:59, skipping Pay Now bookings.

Source: https://cotlet.dev/integrations/hostelworld-api-mcp-server/mark-no-shows

By the next morning, the beds of guests who never arrived are still blocked, and on a one-night Hostelworld booking the Mark as No-Show button has already disappeared. The window closes at 23:59 on arrival day, exactly when reception is busy with late check-ins.

Cotlet does it in your own Hostelworld account with search\_bookings, get\_booking, list\_chats and mark\_no\_show, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.

[Request access](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=hostelworld) [All Hostelworld tools](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/hostelworld-api-mcp-server)

Hosted · nothing to install or maintain

Official options

## Can Hostelworld do this on its own?

Hostelworld has no API for no-shows (checked 12 Oct 2026). Hostelworld does not detect a no-show itself: the property clicks Mark as No-Show on each booking in Inbox, inside the window Hostelworld allows.

By hand

## How you do it in Hostelworld today

1. In Hostelworld Inbox, open the Bookings tab, choose Advanced Search, search by Arrival Date for today and compare the list with the guests who checked in.
2. Open the booking of each guest who did not arrive and scroll to the Manage Booking section at the bottom left of the booking page.
3. Click Mark as No-Show, add an optional comment for Hostelworld support and confirm. A banner confirms the cancellation and Hostelworld emails the guest.
4. To charge a fee, click CC details on the booking page and charge the card yourself, as the property policy allows for that rate type.
5. Every missed one-night booking is a bed that stays blocked and a fee that is harder to claim, and the check has to happen late in the evening, every day.

With an agent

## How to mark Hostelworld no-shows automatically

Prompt

```
At 22:30, check today's Hostelworld arrivals against the guests who checked in. Mark the missing ones as no-shows, unless they wrote in chat that they are arriving late, and tell me whom I can charge.
```

1. 01  
### Find out who is really missing  
search\_bookings with date\_type arrival gives the day's Hostelworld arrivals. Hostelworld cannot know who walked in, so the agent matches them against the check-in list you paste or asks you to confirm the missing names.
2. 02  
### Mind the clock  
One-night bookings go first and must be done before 23:59 on arrival day, so a late evening run fits. Stays of two nights or more can wait for a second pass the next morning, inside the 48-hour window.
3. 03  
### Check each booking before touching it  
get\_booking shows the status and rate type. Pay Now bookings are skipped, because Hostelworld excludes them and the guest has already paid in full. Already cancelled bookings are skipped too, and a group where only some guests are missing is reported to you, since Hostelworld cannot mark part of a group.
4. 04  
### Look for a late-arrival message  
list\_chats shows the guest's latest message on the booking. A guest who wrote "bus delayed, arriving at 1 am" is left alone and listed as waiting.
5. 05  
### Mark, then tell you what to charge  
mark\_no\_show goes out with a short comment for Hostelworld support and waits for your OK on each booking. The report names the guests you may charge and the rule for their rate, with the date until which the card stays in CC details. Cotlet never sees or charges the card.

### What you get back

Example data

```
Arrivals 12 Oct: 14 bookings, 11 checked in by your list
Marked as no-show, guest emailed by Hostelworld: 412-306110482 Kai Brenner (1 night, Standard Non-Flexible), 412-306110917 Sofia Lund (3 nights, Free Cancellation)
Not marked: 412-306111203, Pay Now rate, Hostelworld does not allow it
Waiting: 412-306111588 wrote in chat at 19:40 that the bus is late, arriving 01:00
You may charge: Kai Brenner, first night per your policy; card in CC details until 20 Oct
```

### Other ways to ask

- Every night at 22:30, check today's Hostelworld arrivals against my check-in sheet and mark the one-night no-shows.
- Mark yesterday's no-shows on stays of two nights or more while the 48-hour window is still open.
- Do not mark anyone yet. List today's arrivals with their rate type so I know whom I could charge if they do not come.

Before you automate it

## What Hostelworld allows, and what to know first

- The Hostelworld Mark as No-Show button becomes active on the check-in date, whatever check-in time the guest gave.
- On a one-night Hostelworld booking the no-show option expires at 23:59 on the check-in date; on longer stays it remains for 48 hours after the check-in date.
- Marking a Hostelworld no-show cancels the booking and disables every action on it except View Card Information.
- Hostelworld keeps a guest's card details for up to seven days after the scheduled check-out date and never shows the CVV or CVC code.
- On Free Cancellation and Standard Non-Flexible Hostelworld rates the deposit is non-refundable on a no-show, and the property may charge a no-show fee under its own policy.

mark\_no\_show asks for your OK by default. To run it daily without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.

Sources: [Hostelworld Help: Marking customers as no-shows](https://support.hostelworld.com/knowledge/marking-customer-as-no-show) · [Hostelworld Help: How to charge if a customer does not arrive](https://support.hostelworld.com/knowledge/how-to-charge-if-customer-does-not-arrive) · [Hostelworld Help: Different rate types explained](https://support.hostelworld.com/knowledge/different-rate-types-explained) · [Hostelworld Help: How to find a booking](https://support.hostelworld.com/knowledge/how-to-find-a-booking)

REST

## Call mark\_no\_show from a script

curl

```
curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/hostelworld/mark_no_show \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"booking_ref":"412-306110482","comment":"Guest did not arrive by 22:30 and sent no message."}'
```

Example response

```
{
"booking_ref": "412-305871264",
"status": "cancelled_no_show"
}
```

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is hostelworld\_mark\_no\_show. Example data.

[Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cron](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/hostelworld-api-mcp-server#automations)

Tools

## Hostelworld tools this automation uses

__Cotlet Hostelworld tools used to mark Hostelworld no-shows automatically__
| Tool | Parameters |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| search\_bookings | date\_type, from, to, query, cursor |
| get\_booking | booking\_ref |
| list\_chats | unread\_only, limit, cursor |
| mark\_no\_show | booking\_ref, comment |

[All 15 Hostelworld tools with descriptions](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/hostelworld-api-mcp-server#tools)

## Frequently asked questions

### Can a Pay Now booking be marked as a no-show?

No. Hostelworld's no-show feature applies to every rate type except Pay Now. On a Pay Now booking the guest has already paid the full amount, and Hostelworld says the property should not charge again.

## More Hostelworld automations

- [Reply to Hostelworld reviews with an AI agent](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/hostelworld-api-mcp-server/reply-to-guest-reviews)
- [Answer Hostelworld guest chats with an AI agent](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/hostelworld-api-mcp-server/answer-guest-chats)
- [Reconcile Hostelworld PayNow payouts](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/hostelworld-api-mcp-server/reconcile-paynow-payouts)
- [Hostelworld API and MCP server: every tool](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/hostelworld-api-mcp-server)
- [All use cases](https://cotlet.dev/use-cases)

## Give your agent access to Hostelworld.

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[Request access](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=hostelworld)