How to Transfer a Hotel Booking to Someone Else

Usually, yes — but not through the OTA. To transfer a hotel booking you call the hotel's front desk directly and ask for a guest substitution on your reservation. Most independent hotels and a surprising share of branded hotels (Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Hyatt) will agree, often free, sometimes for a small fee. The OTA you booked through (Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com) is a middleman; the hotel owns the actual reservation.

What this means in practice: a non-refundable Booking.com reservation that the platform refuses to refund can still be transferred to a different guest by the hotel itself. You're not breaking any rule — guest substitution is a routine front-desk operation. Buyer shows up with their own ID, the desk has the substituted name on file, check-in proceeds normally.

What it does NOT mean: 'just send the buyer your confirmation email and they pretend to be you'. That can work at a sleepy independent hotel and fail spectacularly at a chain that scans passports at check-in. Always do the substitution officially through the property — a 5-minute phone call is the difference between a clean transfer and a buyer denied at the desk.

Marriott / Bonvoy: front desks generally accept guest substitution by phone. Non-refundable rates can often be modified at the property level if the new guest is checking into the same dates. Marriott corporate's official line is 'subject to property discretion' — so the answer is whatever the actual property says.

Hilton: flexible-rate bookings can be cancelled and rebooked under a different name with no penalty. Non-refundable rates require direct contact with the property; franchise locations vary, branded resorts are stricter than independents flying the Hilton flag.

IHG (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton, etc.): name changes handled at property level. Direct bookings are dramatically more flexible than OTA bookings — if you booked through Hotels.com, the property may insist Hotels.com authorise the change first, which Hotels.com won't.

Hyatt: similar pattern — call the property. Globalist members get more latitude. Independent boutique properties under the Hyatt umbrella are usually the most flexible.

Independent hotels: by far the most transfer-friendly. A polite phone call explaining 'my partner can't travel, my colleague is going in their place' resolves at no charge in the majority of cases. Most independent properties care about the room being occupied and paid; they don't care which adult occupies it.

Airbnb: short-term rental bookings are non-transferable by host policy and platform policy — the account holder is named on the reservation and the host has the right to refuse a different guest. Don't list Airbnbs on resale marketplaces. Hotels yes, Airbnbs no.

Source for the chain policies: each chain's official 'change my reservation' help page plus property-level confirmations gathered from sellers using SpareHolidays. The standard travel-blog answer of 'contact your hotel' is technically correct and totally useless — the actually useful answer is 'most chains delegate this to the property and most properties say yes if you ask politely'.

Yes, via the underlying hotel — not via the OTA. Booking.com and Expedia are intermediaries; the hotel owns the actual reservation. The OTA's terms-and-conditions page may say 'reservations are non-transferable', but the hotel can substitute the guest name on its own system. The OTA reservation record then either updates automatically (Booking.com usually syncs within 24 hours) or stays in your name on the OTA side while the property's PMS shows the new guest. The new guest checks in fine either way as long as the hotel has them on the manifest.

The conversation with the property: 'Hi, I have reservation [number] from [date]. I can't travel, but [buyer name] can. Can the property substitute the guest name on the reservation? I'll send their full name and ID details.' If the answer is yes, get it in writing (email or chat). That email is what the buyer brings to check-in if there's any question.

If the property says no — and a small share will, especially branded hotels with rigid corporate policies — the booking is stuck in your name. At that point your remaining options are an OTA cancellation (you may get a partial refund or credit, depending on the cancellation policy on your specific rate), travel insurance if your reason qualifies, or holding the booking and writing it off.

Booking.com and Expedia both publish help articles confirming that name changes are 'subject to the hotel's policy' — that's their way of saying 'not our call'. Quote that line back to the property if they push back; it usually unlocks things.

Buyers expect a meaningful discount versus rebooking the same room directly. Realistic range: 20-40% off the original price. A €300 booking sells for €180-€240. A €600 weekend at a 5-star property in a high-demand city (Rome at Easter, London during the marathon, Lisbon during Web Summit) sells faster and at a smaller discount because there's no substitute supply at the same price.

Three things drive price: urgency (how close to check-in), scarcity (is the property otherwise sold out?), and seasonality (peak weekends vs Tuesday-night business hotels). Last-minute 2-7 day listings on a sold-out hotel can command much closer to face value because the buyer has nowhere else to book. Out-of-season midweek listings need to be priced aggressively to move at all.

Honest about scale: SpareHolidays is early — eleven verified accounts as of this week. You're not competing with thousands of other sellers for buyer attention, which means the right priced listing on a high-demand hotel gets seen. Trade-off is the buyer pool is also smaller; price for the market we have, not the market a five-year-old marketplace would have.

Setup takes 10 minutes. The flow below is what the wizard actually walks you through.