Originally Posted by
peter1962
... common sense tells me that since I have 3 nights in hand, surely IHG can just cancel night 3 and leave nights 1 and 2 inplace. ...
Unfortunately, common sense isn't all that common.
That's the way the system works. Your best bet is probably indeed to speak to the hotel directly. I had a situation last month where I was going to miss the first night of a 6-night reward stay. I called beforehand and the hotel did what needed to be done.
You may still lose the 5k points for the one night, but might be able to avoid having the other nights re-price at a much higher rate. Good luck!