sbedelman,

Did the Hotel Adagio, Autograph Collection in San Francisco charge a one-night penalty to your credit card?

Or is this an issue of wasted time due to poor communications and lack of concern by the staff and GM of Hotel Adagio?

In any case, it seems that Marriott.com deserves some of the blame. The system is there to allow guests to make and cancel reservations. It's pretty basic programing to compare the original reservation terms, the time a guest pushes the cancel button, and the local hotel time -- and then to provide an unambiguous cancellation confirmation immediately and as an email.

Any penalty amount should be consistent with the original reservation.