The hotel may debit or preauthorize funds at any time, including prior to arrival, if you have chosen to pay at the property and provided a bank card. This way, the hotel gets a guarantee that in case of late cancellation or no-show, it will be able to charge the card a penalty (if the rate you have selected provides for this). Read more about providing card details to guarantee your booking here.
Often, hotels do not withdraw funds, but instead preauthorize (freeze) them for a period of time. After this hold, two outcomes are possible upon your arrival:
The hotel unfreezes the funds — they become available on your account again, and you can pay with another card or cash.
The hotel completes the pre-authorization, i.e., debits the accommodation. For example, if the cost of the booking is 10,000 rubles, and 5,000 rubles were frozen, the hotel completes the pre-authorization, and you pay the remaining 5,000 rubles.
Please note: When funds are frozen, the same notification is received as when funds are debited. In your bank profile, blocking of funds may look exactly the same as debiting. When the funds unfreeze, this transaction may disappear from the statement.
If you have any doubts about the type of transaction, please contact your bank's support.