How RoomRaccoon handles OTA reservation modifications

Modified on Mon, 23 Jun at 9:23 AM

When a reservation comes through an OTA (Online Travel Agency) such as Booking.com, Expedia, or others, the booking may later be modified by the guest, for example, to change their travel dates, upgrade their room, or add a special request.

This article explains how RoomRaccoon handles those modifications so that your availability and guest records remain accurate and up to date, with minimal manual effort.

Important notes

RoomRaccoon only modifies bookings when updates come from the OTA.
Changes made directly in RoomRaccoon will not sync back to the OTA.
If a booking cannot be updated due to availability conflicts, you’ll be prompted to take action via the Assign pop-up.
All modifications are recorded in the reservation history for full transparency.

What is an OTA booking modification?

An OTA booking modification occurs when a guest updates an existing reservation via the OTA where they made their original booking.

These updates may include:

Changes to dates (arrival, departure, or both)
Adjustments to the number of guests (e.g., 2 guests instead of 1)
Upgrades or downgrades in room type
New special requests or guest notes

The OTA sends these updates to RoomRaccoon, ensuring your system reflects the most accurate version of the reservation.

How are modifications handled in RoomRaccoon?

When a modification is received from an OTA:

RoomRaccoon automatically matches the updated reservation to the original one already in your system.
It then compares the previous details with the updated ones.
Finally, it updates the booking to reflect the guest’s changes, including travel dates, guest count, room category, or special notes.

How RoomRaccoon handles updates when you have manually adjusted the room category

Sometimes, you may have manually moved an OTA booking to a different room category after it was first created. RoomRaccoon is intelligent enough to handle this too.

Here’s how we manage different scenarios:

If...	RoomRaccoon will...
The guest changes their dates, but not the room category	Keep your manual category; update the dates
The guest changes their room category via the OTA	Assume the guest has chosen a new room and update accordingly
The new dates no longer fit in the reassigned room	Display the reservation in the “Assign” pop-up so you can reassign it manually

This means you no longer need to worry about OTA updates being blocked or manually editing the booking details.

Tip: Keep an eye on the “Assign” pop-up

Suppose RoomRaccoon cannot locate availability for the modified booking (e.g. new dates or no space in the chosen room category). In that case, the reservation will appear in the Assign pop-up, where you can easily allocate a new room.