Agree.

I would get MR involved (let them handle it) and once stay is over (yes, after it is over), send a very strong letter to CEO/Chairman's office demanding action against G and/or property. Most people dont do the last step and hence shody practices of such GM continues.

Is the consensus seriously that this hotel will cancel the OP's reservation if he doesn't reply to this one email? I find this extremely unlikely. As has been previously mentioned, one email is often not received or missed or ignored. Canceling a reservation because of this would result in scores of angry would-be-guests. In addition, the email says nothing about canceling anything. It just says the deposit will be taken. I would absolutely ignore this email.

Everything after the first two responses in this thread is essentially surplus. Sharon and MrVker laid out the blueprint for how to handle this situation.

I hope we get a report from OP how this turns out.

I would just call Marriott and get them involved. I would not bother emailing or calling the GM, he/she has already shown that he is not really too concerned with customer service.

This would be my approach to this issue. He didn't mention anything about a rate change or cancellation if you don't respond- if you cancel and he has charged your card,it seems that you have an easy case to dispute.

I get where you are coming from and I agree with you. But I can say from personal experience working at an IHG property, that there are some truly inconsiderate, careless operations managers out there that will make this terrible call and cancel the reservation.

Does the op want to make a point, or does the op want a room?

Exactly, I wouldn't respond if none is required, cancel if I really wanted in accordance with the original terms, then complain afterwards (if so inclined).

It's a shame OP is staying at CY and not FI, as this could be an interesting opportunity to invoke the 100% guarantee at check-out.

It's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

A hotel stay should not have a winner and a loser.

Under the circumstances, maybe both?

My concern is that any hotel with the stones to send such an unethical, offensive email to begin with is the same hotel that would cancel your reservation and deny that it existed at all when you tried to check in. You'd then be in an email/phone hassle-fest with corporate, and nothing would get figured out in time for you to actually get your room.

Not quite as bad, but I've had Marriotts flip my post-paid stay to a prepaid at check-in. While this is less of an issue - one more about the date posted to the credit card than any need or ability to cancel the stay - it's still frustrating that hotels think they can change the rules with zero notice. They know they've got you by the you-know-what and they're exploiting that to their advantage. We usually hope that our long-term relationship with the Marriott brand is more advanced than this, and we're disappointed when we learn it isn't.

The dumb part about this is that it's not like the dates for the Indy 500 are a mystery. I mean, we know the exact dates for the races for many years to come. If this airport Marriott thought that the race was a good excuse to gouge guests with sh*tty terms, why did they load the $109 cancellable rate to begin with?

Search here in FT and you will see all of the threads surrounding "major events." This is far from the worst. Many of them are, "agree to a much higher rate or your room is cancelled" or "sorry, but your room is cancelled."

As others note, it's easy to give advice to someone else about what someone else ought to do. But, if what the property really wants is for the OP (and others) not to respond and then to use that as a reason (a poor reason, but a reason) to cancel and rent the room for $500+, the question to OP is what is Plan B?

What to do if the room is cancelled, the property is full and everything in the area is oversold?

I know what I would do, and it would be very memorable to hotel staff and anyone within earshot of the front desk at the time I tried to check in. Granted, that might not change the fact that I don't have a room. But I promise that the GM would wish he hadn't cancelled my reservation.