Originally Posted by olympian

It seems to have changed for UK hotels (at least) a couple of weeks ago such that the default cancellation policy stated is now 1600 on the day before check-in, rather than 1600 on check-in day as it used to be for most hotels apart from Staybridge Suites and some Crowne Plazas that were already 1600 the day before so haven't changed.

The website does indeed appear to still only restrict cancellations once you get to 1600 on check-in day itself, and still lets you do so earlier that day despite what the new wording says, so to me it's as if only the wording changed.

I've not tried cancelling a reward night reservation in between the two cancellation periods following this recent change, but have previously succesfully cancelled or modified paid reservations to a different check-in date at Staybridge Suites without any penalties.

In your case did you get your points back as normal and was there anything different about the cancellation confirmation email you received to indicate that you'd instead be charged to your credit card for the stay?