Originally Posted by craigthemif

When you use points, there's not a whole lot the hotel can do for you.

And since you used points, you are now #bonvoyed. Contact a Lurker and see if they can do something for you.

Although it sounds like you did everything sensibly in the order that common sense would say is appropriate, you probably should have waited a few more hours before booking a hotel. In a city like Istanbul, the hotels were never likely to completely fill up. But once you reserve, you cannot easily cancel.... The normal policy for no shows or late cancellations is to refund your points and charge you the $ rate for the first night.