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Email template to request a hotel cancellation refund

Your plans fell through and the hotel is holding your money. Maybe you cancelled a day past the free-cancellation deadline, maybe a flight was cancelled and you never made it, maybe the booking was "non-refundable" but the hotel itself had a problem, no hot water, a closed pool, construction noise. Hotels can and do make exceptions, but the front desk can't; a manager or the reservations office decides, and they decide based on what you put in writing. An email with your confirmation number, the reason, and a specific request gives them something to approve. It's also the record your card company will ask for if you end up disputing the charge, which is called a chargeback and usually has to be filed within 60 days of the statement.

Before you send

  • Your confirmation number, the dates, the rate you paid, and the cancellation terms shown on your confirmation email. Quote them exactly.
  • The reason, and any proof: an airline cancellation notice, a doctor's note, a photo of the problem with the room, the date and time you called to cancel.
  • If you booked through a third-party site, know that the hotel may say only the site can refund you. Email both, and tell each you've contacted the other.
  • What you're asking for: a full refund, a refund of the unused nights, or a credit for a future stay if that's acceptable to you.
  • A calm tone. Exceptions are a favor; give the manager an easy reason to say yes.
Subject Refund request for reservation [confirmation number], [dates] 
Hi [hotel name] reservations team,

I had a reservation at [hotel name] under [your name], confirmation number [confirmation number], for [check-in date] to [check-out date], paid [amount] on a card ending in [last four digits].

[I cancelled on date, one day after the free-cancellation deadline, because my flight was cancelled by the airline; notice attached. / I was unable to travel because of a medical emergency; documentation attached. / I stayed one night but the room had no working air conditioning and the hotel could not move me; photos attached.]

I understand the rate was [non-refundable / subject to a one-night penalty], and I'm asking whether you'd be willing to make an exception given the circumstances. Specifically, I'd like to request [a full refund / a refund of the two unused nights, amount]. If a full refund isn't possible, I'd consider [a credit toward a future stay within a year].

Could you let me know by [date, about a week out]? Thank you for taking a look.

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • Hotels often reply with a partial refund or a credit first. If your reason is strong and documented, reply once and ask again for the full amount; a second, polite ask works more often than people expect.
  • A bad reply is "the rate is non-refundable" with no acknowledgement of your reason. Ask that a manager review it, and mention that you're keeping the correspondence.
  • If you booked through a third-party site, a refund the hotel approves may still have to be processed by that site. Forward the hotel's approval to the site and ask them to issue it.
  • If there's no reply or a flat no after about ten days, and the hotel failed to provide what you paid for, dispute the charge with your card issuer with this thread attached. If you simply changed your mind past the deadline, a dispute is unlikely to succeed and a credit may be the best outcome.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Get a refund on a hotel reservation 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to ask a hotel to refund a reservation and handle the follow-up.

The hotel: [name, city, and contact email if I have it].
The booking: [confirmation number, dates, amount paid, direct or via a booking site].
The cancellation terms: [what my confirmation says].
What happened: [why I cancelled or couldn't use it, and my proof].
What I'd accept: [full refund, refund of unused nights, or a future-stay credit as a fallback].

Contact the hotel (and the booking site if I used one), ask for the refund, push once more if they offer less, and tell me where it lands.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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