Originally Posted by
mumaluke
To clarify some questions or comments above...
- the rooms are not prepaid.
- We were there for work and the work ended early, so there was no option to just stay one more night.
- The rooms were booked, M-F
If you used a corporate rate, check whether it allows early check out. Sometimes these have contractually more generous cancellation fees, especially if you work for a large corporation (or government) that sends the hotel or Hilton a lot of business can tends to make last minute travel changes.
OTOH, your employer should reimburse the fee, so perhaps your corporate travel office wants to fight this.