Indeed. We're attending a college graduation in a not-very-large college town later this year. The terms of the reservation at the HIE are: "A deposit for the entire stay is due at time of booking. Canceling your reservation or failing to arrive will result in forfeiture of your deposit." In other words, you prepay the entire amount at time of booking as your deposit, and that payment is non-refundable.

And I would politely suggest to the OP that, as many of us can attest, using the Oxford dictionary to challenge some IHG T&C is about as effective as beating your head against a wall. It's unlikely anything will change, and you'll probably walk away with nothing more than a blinding headache.