Originally Posted by
M60_to_LGA
It depends on the individual property and how severe the disruption is to your travel.
For example, last winter I had a hotel in NYC reserved for a few days in January, but I couldn't make it on time because of a big snowstorm that smacked the NE. I would technically have been on the hook for the first night since I didn't cancel before 24 hours. However, I was able to make it the next day, and the hotel waived the first night's charge.
If you can prove that you were physically unable to make it to your destination given an act of God, you might be able to convince either the hotel or the credit card to refund you.
However, as beachmouse already noted, the storm will be long gone by the time you're supposed to travel, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Similar situation here, we had planned to go to NOLA for a few days when ATL got hit by a snowstorm last year because we found a super hotel deal on Hotwire a couple of weeks prior. Called Hotwire, they said if we could send proof of our flight reservation being cancelled they would 'consider' a refund. Complicating matters, we had planned to fly non rev but hadn't listed for a flight yet, and you can't list for a flight that has already been cancelled & no longer exists.
At that point we were willing to chalk up the cost to bad luck. But just for kicks I called the hotel directly the day before our scheduled arrival. I explained the situation & the rep said they would agree to cancel, pointing out that what if we had planned to drive as a back-up to flying, we still couldn't get out of Atlanta to get there (great rep!). She told me specific wording to pass along to Hotwire, something like they would 'cancel without penalty' and gave me her direct #. Called back Hotwire, they put me on hold & called the hotel rep, everything was cancelled, no problem.
All that to say, if your flights are impacted you may stand a better chance of them being lenient than if you simply decide no to go because of potential weather.