In answer to the other posts -
It sounds like the hotel cancelled the reservation some amount of time before the guest arrived, which is why they didn't do anything. i wouldn't want to be stuck in the same situation because, well, prices tend to go up the closer you book to your stay, so I wouldn't want to have my reservation cancelled, say, 3 days beforehand.
I considered posting this in the Choice forum at first, but wasn't sure it was the best idea - I'll leave it up to a mod's discretion to move it.