Upvote:1
It is legal for them to do so. (well, there is not prescription in the consumer protection law forcing them to have a "free" cancellation before X number of days).
Hotels seems to all have different policies regarding cancellation.
I did not find a proper legal reference other than a "La Facture" In french:
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/actualite/v2/lafacture/niveau2_899.shtml
"La loi ne vous permet pas d'annuler votre réservation sans pénalité. La réservation d'une chambre d'hôtel est un contrat verbal, et vous devez le respecter.
La plupart des établiss*m*nt hôteliers ont toutefois une politique qui vous permet d'annuler une réservation à 24 ou 48 heures d'avis."
Upvote:5
There is no standard cancellation policy (I don't think this is regulated even in Europe). Some hotels allow you to cancel for free till 24h in advance, others 48h, some require a week, and with certain offers, you cannot cancel at all.
It is therefore very important to read the fine print on the home page to figure out the specific policy. As a personal rule, I don't book hotels where I cannot find out the cancellation policy on the internet.