I guess the hotel was right, t&c: "

4.3.5 Customer's failure to show up Except as provided for in the Terms & Conditions specific to Thalassa Sea & Spa branded Establishments in Appendix 1 of these General Conditions and/or in the Special Conditions of each Establishment, in the event of the Customer's failure to show up on the first day of his/her reservation of an Accommodation Service ("no show"), the Customer's reservation will be cancelled in full and: In the event that the no-show reservation is a non-cancellable and/or non-exchangeable and/or non-refundable reservation, the Establishment shall retain, as a deposit within the meaning of Articles 1590 of the French Civil Code and L 214-1 of the French Consumer Code in their current versions, the total amount paid by the Customer upon reservation. If the reservation that is the subject of a no-show is a cancellation and/or exchangeable and/or refundable reservation guaranteed by credit card, the Establishment will charge the credit card provided at the time of the reservation for the amount including tax of the first night reserved. Additional nights (beyond the first night) will be cancelled without charge. The Customer is informed that in such a case, the Establishment will put its rooms back on sale. The Customer will not be entitled to any refund or compensation. At the time of prepayment of a non-cancellable/non-exchangeable/non-refundable reservation, the amount of the deposit that is charged includes the total amount indicated at the time of the reservation and, if applicable, the price of the options selected by the Customer, as described in Article 4.1 above."


Then some words about pre-paid bookings I have done:

In Europe, ACCOR tend to charge me immediately. In Asia, they tend to charge me either some days before I arrive or not at all before I come to the hotel. Right now I have several bookings. The ones done in Europe, are already paid. The ones I done in Asia is not charged yet, besides reward points withdrawal.