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I'm wondering if anyone knows what the statute for cancelling a reservation free of charge is in Québec. Every hotel I've ever been to allows for a free cancellation as long as you cancel more than 48 hours in advance. But we booked an inn yesterday, and had to cancel today, more than 48 hours in advance. However they claim there is a $150 cancellation fee when the cancellation is done inside of 7 days.

I've never heard of something like that, and I'm outraged because that's not what they told me on the phone.

Is it legal for a hotel or inn to charge for cancellation outside of 48 hours notice in Québec?

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    Heya Emmanuel, and welcome to Travel-SE! On this site, English is kind of the "official" language, and bilingual posts are generally not necessary. Even if English is not that good, other people would come around to edit and improve your question. See this question for some more elaboration. At any rate, welcome, and help yourself to some questions and answers! – mindcorrosive Aug 9 '12 at 5:36
  • Non-refundable is also a possibility, not just in Quebec. Sometimes the same room on the same night is available as cancelable and non-cancelable rate. – Itai Aug 5 '15 at 21:45
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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.

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  • I would add that most of the time, they charge fees for cancellation after 48h – Zonata Sep 11 '13 at 13:57
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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 établissement hôteliers ont toutefois une politique qui vous permet d'annuler une réservation à 24 ou 48 heures d'avis."

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