Missing Guest Phone Numbers on Booking.com? Here's How to Stay Connected With Guests

If you open any Booking.com reservation made after September 28, 2026 in your property management system, the phone number field is probably empty. That’s not a glitch.

Booking.com has stopped sending guest phone numbers to property management systems and channel managers. How much this affects you depends on how you reach guests. If you already message Booking.com guests through Booking.com’s messaging, for example from a unified inbox, you may barely notice the change. But if you rely on SMS or WhatsApp to send welcome messages, door codes or arrival instructions, those messages now have nowhere to go.

If that’s you, there are two things to work out: how to reach guests without their phone number, and how to collect it from them directly. The good news is that a few small changes to how you collect guest contact details will keep every Booking.com stay running smoothly. Tools like a guest portal, a direct booking website and a unified inbox can cover both, and this guide walks through how to do it. 

Key takeaways

• Since September 28, 2026, Booking.com leaves the guest phone number out of every new reservation, modification and cancellation it sends to connected software. Numbers you already have are kept.

• Anything that depends on that number, from WhatsApp welcome messages to door codes sent by SMS, will quietly stop reaching Booking.com guests.

• The fix is to collect the phone number from the guest through online check-in, and to approve your check-in link in the Booking.com Extranet so it isn't stripped from messages.

• Hosts who collect guest details through online check-in and use a unified inbox are the least exposed, because they don’t rely on an OTA to hand over guest details.

What changed with Booking.com guest phone numbers?

Since September 28, 2026, the reservation data Booking.com sends to your PMS no longer includes guest phone numbers. According to Booking.com’s migration guide, this applies to every property worldwide and covers all new reservations, modifications and cancellations.

The rest of your reservation data isn’t affected. Rates, availability, guest names and email addresses still sync to your software as before. Any phone numbers you received on bookings made before September 28 also stay in your system.

In the past, a Booking.com reservation without a phone number was rare and usually only happened with new properties. Now it’s the case for every reservation, whichever property management system or channel manager you use.

Why did Booking.com remove guest phone numbers?

Booking.com calls the change a security measure to protect guests’ phone numbers. It’s part of a wider effort to tackle phishing, which has been a growing problem on the platform.

In September 2026, Booking.com started scanning messages for phishing content. If a message is flagged, its content is replaced with “This message was deleted.”

Booking.com isn’t the first OTA to limit guest phone numbers. Airbnb is testing temporary phone numbers in the US and Canada, Expedia has made a similar move, and now Booking.com has followed.

Each of these changes keeps more of the guest conversation inside the OTA’s own platform. We don’t expect Booking.com to reverse this one, so it’s worth planning around it now.

What does this change for short-term rental hosts?

You won’t see an error message when a phone number is missing. Reservations still import normally, so the problem only shows up when a guest doesn’t receive a message or code they were counting on.

Any task that relies on the guest’s phone number is affected. The table below lists the most common ones.

How can you find a Booking.com guest's phone number now?

You can still find it, just not in your PMS. Booking.com still stores each guest’s phone number in the Booking.com Extranet, the portal you use to manage your Booking.com listing. Open the reservation there, and you’ll see the guest’s contact details.

Looking up a number now and then is manageable, for example when a guest is running late and you need to call them. It gets harder as your business grows. If you manage 20 listings with steady Booking.com bookings, checking the Extranet and copying numbers into your PMS every day quickly adds up. It’s exactly the kind of manual work your software is meant to take off your plate.

In the meantime, you can still reach Booking.com guests without a phone number. Booking.com messaging works as normal, and each reservation still includes the guest’s email address. Either one can be used to send check-in details.

Why should hosts collect guest contact details directly?

Short-term rental hosts rely heavily on guest phone numbers. Guests rarely meet anyone in person, so the phone number is often how they get the door code, find the parking spot and reach you when the hot water stops working.

The simplest way to do this is through online check-in. Before arrival, you send each guest a link where they confirm their details and enter their own phone number. It works the same way whichever channel they booked through, so Booking.com guests are covered just like everyone else.

Once you have the number, you have more ways to stay in touch. You can keep every conversation in one inbox and move from Booking.com messaging to SMS or WhatsApp whenever it suits the guest, whether that’s to send door codes, share parking details or check in during their stay.

Direct bookings make it easier still. A past guest who books direct gives you their details from the first click, and the stay carries no OTA commission.

How does Hostaway keep you connected to Booking.com guests?

With Hostaway, you don’t need Booking.com to pass on a guest’s phone number to stay in touch. The Guest Portal and the unified inbox help you collect guest contact details and keep conversations going, whichever channel the booking came from.

Guest Portal and online check-in

Guests complete online check-in in the Hostaway Guest Portal before they arrive and share their phone number as part of it. Make the phone number a required field, and every Booking.com guest shares their number with you before the stay.

Unified inbox

The Hostaway unified inbox keeps OTA messaging, email, SMS and WhatsApp conversations in one place. You can start with a Booking.com guest in Booking.com's messaging, then move to SMS or WhatsApp once they've shared their number at check-in. 

What should hosts do now?

1. Review what depends on the guest’s phone number. List every message, door code and connected app that uses it, so you know what needs the number to keep working. If your door codes are built from the guest’s phone digits, switch to a format that doesn’t rely on them.

2. Make the phone number a required field in online check-in. Once a guest shares their number, your automations can run as usual.

3. Approve your check-in link in the Booking.com Extranet. Go to Property > Messaging preferences > Security settings and add the link under approved links. Make sure “Block all links” is turned off, because it blocks approved links too.

4. Send the Guest Portal link through the Booking.com message thread as soon as a reservation comes in. Until the guest completes check-in, use Booking.com messaging or the guest’s email for anything urgent.

The fix doesn’t take much. Asking guests for their contact details at online check-in means you have their number before they arrive, whichever channel they booked through. It also means you’ll be ready the next time an OTA changes what it shares, so a policy update doesn’t turn into a problem for your guests.

Book a free demo to see how Hostaway's Guest Portal and direct booking website keep you connected to every guest. 

Frequently asked questions

What happens if a guest changes a booking made before September 28?

The guest’s updated booking will arrive without a phone number, even if the original booking had one. Booking.com won’t delete a number it has already sent, but it won’t include it in any new updates either. Whether you keep the original number depends on your PMS, so it’s worth checking the reservation after any change.

Can a PMS or channel manager get the phone number another way?

Not automatically. Booking.com has removed the phone number from the reservation data it sends to every PMS and channel manager, so no software can pull it in directly. You can still get it in other ways, though: look it up in the Booking.com Extranet, or ask the guest to share it through online check-in so it’s saved straight to your PMS.

Does this change affect the guest’s email address?

No. Booking.com still sends the guest’s email address with each reservation, so it remains a reliable way to reach Booking.com guests. You can use it to send pre-arrival information, check-in instructions or your online check-in link, for guests to share their phone number before they arrive.