> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.roomdoo.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Cancel a reservation

> How to cancel a reservation in Roomdoo, what to do when the system blocks it, and when to manage it from the OTA.

## How to cancel a reservation

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the reservation">
    From the planning, click the reservation. You can also use the search bar in the top-right corner — by booking reference or guest name.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Options menu (three dots)">
    In the top-right corner of the reservation detail, you'll see a **three-dots** icon. Click it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Cancel">
    From the options shown, pick **Cancel**. If the reservation has a linked payment, the system asks whether to keep a penalty or set it to zero.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm">
    Confirm the cancellation. The reservation status changes to **Cancelled** and frees up availability for those dates.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## When the system blocks the cancellation

The **Cancel** button can appear blocked or the system can show a notice. The most common causes:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Reservation locked by an OTA (Booking, Expedia, Hotelbeds...)">
    Roomdoo doesn't let you cancel reservations that came from OTAs because the OTA is the source of truth. If the guest or the hotel cancel in the OTA, that cancellation syncs back to Roomdoo automatically.

    **What to do:**

    * If the hotel cancels: open the OTA extranet and cancel it there.
    * If the guest cancels: ask them to do it from their OTA account.

    Either way, as soon as the OTA processes the cancellation, it's reflected in Roomdoo with no further action from you.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The reservation has a validated invoice">
    If a final invoice (not a proforma) has been issued for this reservation, the system blocks cancellation to preserve accounting integrity. The invoice has to be voided or corrected first.

    **Don't do it yourself** — contact support with the booking reference and the invoice number.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The reservation is part of a monthly grouped invoice">
    Some agencies or companies have grouped-invoice agreements at month-end. Cancelling a reservation already in that closed batch can affect the invoiced lot.

    Contact support with the detail: the booking reference and, if you know it, the receiving agency or company.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="It's a group and you only want to cancel some rooms">
    To cancel individual rooms inside a group, the flow is different. See [Add or remove rooms in a group](/en/reservations/add-remove-rooms-group).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Cancel with or without a penalty

When you cancel, Roomdoo offers two options:

* **No penalty**: the reservation goes to 0 € and any previous payment is refunded or kept as credit.
* **With penalty**: you apply a penalty (percentage or fixed amount) based on the cancellation policy of the rate.

<Tip>
  If the rate has an automatic policy (for example, "100% if cancelled within 24 h"), Roomdoo applies the penalty by default. You can adjust it manually if the situation calls for it (VIP guest, force majeure delay, etc.).
</Tip>

## When to contact support

* The reservation has a **validated invoice** or is part of a **closed batch**.
* It's a **group** with several rooms and the cancellation has a penalty.
* The button is blocked and it's **not an OTA reservation**.
* The guest is asking for a **refund that doesn't apply** under the policy but you want to grant it as a goodwill gesture.

<Warning>
  Don't "duplicate" the reservation as a workaround to create a new one with the right dates and cancel the old. If there's an invoice, payment, or OTA sync involved, the result can be an accounting mismatch that's hard to unwind.
</Warning>