Can I send my customer's special requests, like a late check in or a high floor room, to the hotel through my website?

Yes, in most cases you can pass a special request through to the hotel, but it is worth being clear with your customer that a request is never a guarantee. When your staff or your customer makes a booking on your website, there is normally a notes or special requests box, and whatever is typed there travels with the booking to the supplier and on to the hotel. The hotel usually sees it before arrival, but it only acts on it if it can on the day.

How much actually gets through depends on the supplier behind that particular rate. Some suppliers accept free text, so a line about a late arrival or a quiet room reaches the hotel more or less as written. Others only accept a fixed set of options, such as non smoking, twin beds or high floor, and anything outside that list is quietly dropped before it ever reaches the property. Several suppliers also expect the text in English only. Because of this, you may find the same request behaves differently on two rates for the same hotel, which is normal and not a fault on your website.

Anything that costs extra money works differently again. Cots, extra beds, parking, early check in and airport pickup are usually arranged and paid for at the hotel itself, so your staff should not promise them on the confirmation even when the request has been sent. The same applies to connecting rooms, which most hotels will only confirm when the guests arrive.

Make a test booking with a request typed in, check whether it appears on the voucher your customer receives, and tell your staff to advise customers to repeat anything important at the front desk.