mnredfox

More and more properties (across all chains) are doing this. Make sure you read the T&C rules of cancellations carefully!

Spud8o

The hotel has not actually opened yet, it opens in April.
I'll make a note in my diary to contact them in April to check what the situation is.

Thanks for everyone's replies.

sdsearch

IMHO, it's ridiculous practice given that they don't tell you up front (when you're making an award reservation) how much that one night charge will be.

And what will it be, at any rate? Will it be the rate you would have paid had you book the room with money on the day you booked it with points, or is it the walk-up rate (and if so, where in advance is that posted), or what?

It does not seem reasonable at all to me to bill you an amount which they did not identify at the time of booking. It would seem very reasonable to me if they spelled out what actual amount you would owe for an award late cancel or award no-show. (And IIRC there are other hotel programs that do just that, though I can't name a specific one offhand.)

But just saying that you'll lose your deposit, if that's not true and you'll actually have to pay cash (even though you paid no cash deposit), that sounds very misleading.

AMDB7

In my case it was a low-rent HI so it didn't cost much - rack-rate, I guess - but you wouldn't want to do it at an IC somewhere. I just plain forgot about the booking. But that's my tough luck; I should have remembered, and I certainly didn't feel that any hand-wringing was necessary afterwards.

But, right or wrong, it is pretty clear in the t&c's that this is the case. And for every awards night you book you still have to enter a credit card number and tick a box saying you agree to forfeit your deposit if you don't show up, or don't cancel in time. We're all fairly savvy here, so most of us should know what that means, even if the "deposit" pricing could be a bit clearer.

mnredfox

Agreed, but you should always assume it will be rack rate.

sixela73

This happened to me when I had to cancel two sweet dilemma nights at short notice. 1200 euros charged to my credit card ... I disputed it and they refunded because it was a sweet dilemma redemption (and there was no mention of any cancellation charges on the Ts&Cs), but they were clear that had it been a normal points redemption (where the Ts&Cs were similar to the ones quoted above) they would have stuck to the charge. Personally think it's a bit of a rip off; but if they state it clearly up front, not much you can do about it.

mnredfox

I sometimes find the IHG website confusing when booking, but nonetheless it is still my responsibility to read and find the fine print about cancellations.