⚠️ This article applies only if Little Hotelier Pay is activated for your property.
Can I process a refund in Little Hotelier?
Processing a refund in the Little Hotelier platform is available with Little Hotelier Pay, and Little Hotelier Pay must be activated on your account. It is not available with a third-party payment gateway (such as PayPal, Paystack, or AsiaPay). If Little Hotelier Pay is not activated, or the payment was made through a third-party gateway, you will not see the Process refund button.
Before you begin
Little Hotelier Pay must be activated
Refunds must be processed within 90 days of processing the payment, no later than seven days after a guest’s check out date
Once processed, refunds cannot be reversed
What refunds can be processed in Little Hotelier?
You can process refunds directly in Little Hotelier for payments originally made through Little Hotelier Pay. This includes:
Reservation payments
Automated payments
Virtual terminal payments
Payment request payments
If the original payment was processed outside Little Hotelier Pay (for example through a third-party payment provider such as Stripe, Square, or PayPal), Little Hotelier cannot refund it. Log in to the payment system you originally used, process the refund there, then record it against the reservation in Little Hotelier.
You can still process a refund for a cancelled reservation if it's refundable under your cancellation policy.
How do refunds appear
Your guest may see the refund displayed differently on their bank statement:
As a reversal: The original payment will be removed from their statement
Within the authorisation period, the original payment will show as:
An adjusted lower amount (for partial refunds)
Zero amount (for full refunds)
Marked as Pending on their statement
Process a refund for a reservation
Refund a payment for a reservation in Little Hotelier using Little Hotelier Pay:
Open the reservation in Calendar or Reservations
Click Process Refund in the Payments tab
Enter refund details
Click Process Refund
Process a refund for a payment made using the virtual terminal
Process a refund for a payment made using the virtual terminal using Little Hotelier Pay:
Navigate to Payments > Transactions
Locate and click the transaction to refund
Click Refund
Enter the refund amount (full or partial)
Click Process refund
Process a refund for a payment made using the payment terminal
Process a refund for a payment made using the payment terminal using Little Hotelier Pay:
Go to Payments > Transactions
Search and click on the transaction to refund
Click Refund
Enter the Amount (full or partial)
Click Process refund
💡 Can't see the Refund or Process refund button? This usually means Little Hotelier Pay is not activated on your account, or the payment was made through a third-party gateway.
Frequently asked questions
How can guests verify their refund?
For MasterCard or Visa payments, you can provide the acquirer reference number from the transaction details. Guests can use this number to check the refund status with their bank. This allows them to contact their bank to ask for the status of the refund.
When will the guest receive the refund?
Once you have refunded a guest using Little Hotelier Pay, it can take up to seven days to be received in the guest’s bank account, depending on their bank and where they are located.
Guest is not seeing the refund on their bank statement
If the guest is asking why they are not seeing the refund on their bank statement, this may be why:
The refund appears as a reversal: The original payment will be removed from their bank statement
If the payment is refunded during its authorisation period: The original payment will be adjusted to either a lower amount (for a partial refund) or zero (for a full refund). The transaction may also be marked as ‘Pending’ on their bank statement
How can I refund a payment made through a third-party gateway?
If the original payment was processed through a third-party payment gateway such as PayPal, Paystack, AsiaPay, or BimoPay, you cannot process refunds via Little Hotelier. Log in to the gateway's portal and process the refund there. Third-party payment gateway transactions are not visible in your Little Hotelier Pay Transactions page. Contact the gateway's support team if you need help.