Cancel Hotel Reservation

It can happen to anyone, that due to reasons you cannot control, you have to change your itinerary and therefore need to modify or cancel hotel bookings. In such circumstances, there are always options to discuss, whatever the policy initially described. A policy is written to guide the regular business, but there can be exceptions due to personal experiences and compelling reasons.

How to politely cancel a reservation?

A cancellation letter is a form of communication to inform the hotel or organization that due to a change in plans, has to discontinue or cancel a reservation for a hotel room that was already booked and confirmed. 

When you need to cancel a reservation, you are depending on the courtesy of the counterparty. It's best to be polite, patient calm, and reasonable, even if the other party, in the beginning, seems not to be flexible. The best way is to keep exploring the options that are open with the representative of the hotel or agency. The first thing you need to do in that situation is to have a look at the refund policy for the room, at both the hotel and the agent where you booked the hotel. 

Free cancellation reservation

If you find out your booking has a free cancellation policy, this means you only need to cancel according to the agreed refund policy, according to the requested cancellation procedure. In that scenario, you will be partially or fully refunded for the total amount that you paid. This commonly will be returned to your original form of payment.

Reservation change, or partially refundable reservation

If you’ve made a booking and there are costs involved for canceling, there would be often 2 options: change the booking or cancel it. If you choose to change the booking to a later date, often no cancellation fee will apply if your booking is in a destination that is considered inaccessible (for example due to the COVID-19 outbreak or lockdown in the area). In that case, you will be most of the time offered either a full refund or a hotel voucher to be used on that same hotel or a certain selection of hotels. Often cancellation has to be done 24 hours prior to the check-in date.

If the standard cancellation policy will apply if the destination is considered open for travel and you have chosen to change or cancel your booking for other reasons. You might find out the reservation is considered to be canceled against a cost. It's important to discuss this situation with the agent and the hotel if you cannot come to a conclusion with one of the parties.

Cancel a non-refundable reservation

Often, if you want to cancel a non-refundable reservation, the agent or the provider will not provide a refund. It’s best to contact the hotel themselves who set the rules for their own hotel deals if they can provide something special for you.

There are a few situations a hotel might consider refunding a non-refundable room. For example, if a flight is diverted away from the airport because it’s (suddenly) being closed. Another reason a hotel might be willing to be flexible is when the reason has to do with the death of a family member, that alters your travel schedule. This will have a higher rate of success if you notified the hotel and agent in time so that the room could be added back to their available inventory in cased other travelers want to book the rooms. 

We provide a specific non-refundable hotel reservation letter here for your convenience.

Hotel booking cancel letter writing suggestions:

• provide all the necessary details to identify the hotel reservation, such as booking number, check-in date, check-out date, location;
• provide necessary details about why you are canceling, including complaints;
• avoid providing wrong details or information;
• provide information to the other party that is correct and authentic. Do not tell lies or provide false information to convince readers;
  
• mention the name of the buyer if you are writing on someone else’s behalf.
• the postal or mailing address of the hotel or agent should be precise;
• if the results are so far unsatisfying, ask how they would arrange cancelation without paying fees, if they were in your situation.

As we have mentioned earlier, interestingly enough, for the right reasons, hotels seem to be able to consider a full refund, although. If you communicate with the staff of the hotel and the booking agent, in a friendly manner. Of course, this is different for every situation, and no claims can be made according to our experiences. We certainly hope that you will be surprised and will receive a full refund.

This easily customizable Cancel hotel reservation letter template can be used for any kind of business or personal situation. We support you by providing this letter which will save you time, cost, and efforts and help you to 
Please have a look at it and you might even discover this helpful letter provides a slightly different perspective on the considered already hopeless situation.
Download this Cancel hotel reservation letter template now and make life a little easier!