We are in Singapore together with my sister and law and her husband. Upon arrival, we paid fo 2 rooms for 4 nights. Fine. We were given a discount. However, something came up and my sister in law and husband had to leave after 2 days of stay. Instead of refunding 2 days, the hotel manager said we are fined one day so we were refunded of one day only. Maybe it is better to pay day by day next time.
I have to admit I've never heard of a partial refund on an hotel booking before, and every time I've complained and requested a refund I have either got it all or nothing back. I guess it depends on what the complaint is and if the hotel agrees with why the refund is requested in the first place, but to me that doesn't sound right and I would complain and take it further if they are able to.
All hotels have different policies and it also depends on the ate you paid. Theoretically they don't have to refund you if you give less than the required notice to cancel, and some rooms that are cheap are non-refundable. You have to see it from their point of view, you paid for something, and then they can't sell the room on without having at least 24 hours to try and sell it again. In the given circumstances losing one day is normal business practice.
I agree because I have faced something similar when in Kashmir about 8 years before. I was so fascinated seeing the houseboats in Dal Lake that I booked one single occupancy boat for 15 days on a discounted rate and paid for the entire duration that included meals and 4 boat rides to and fro to road per day. After three days I felt too lonely so hired a room in city center but the owner did not return any money. I did not vacate the house boat but visited it after every 2-3 days with newly made friends on our sponsored trips of the valley.
It really depends on that particular hotels policy on refunds. If it was a special discounted deal, it should of been stipulated that there is no refunds if you pay in advance. Once that is stipulated then there is no turning back. In the hotel industry you meet a lot of shady individuals that will do whatever it takes to save a buck. Lying, cheating, and making false claims are part of the game that is played all the time in hotels. Everyone is looking for comp stays.
From the hotels perspective then I can understand why they wouldn't give a full refund, as like what's been said, it will take them a day to get the room ready for another guest, but from the customers point of view I would argue it out depending on what my complaint is. If the room isn't up to a certain standard and I feel that I couldn't stay there because of something the hotel had done (or not done) and health and safety issue for example, I would expect them to pay the full refund and accept responsibility for the problem.
I guess they do that if a hotel usually reaches their capacity. The reason for that is that if you book a hotel room, that means someone else can't spend their money for that room and if you cancel it and want your money back, they'll lose the money from you and the person that wanted it. Some hotels might give a refund if they're usually empty.
