I've been searching for a hotel for the end of June in Kennebunkport, R.I. I realize that this is high season but they require the entire 4 nights charge up front. If you need to cancel 30 days or fewer before, you must forfeit the entire sum, UNLESS they can find s/o else for your room. My question-how can they prove to you that the room went unrented? I know we can buy insurance but I'd rather not. We have in the past and not had to use it but it's rather expensive.

Is there such a place as Kennebunkport, R.I? I think you mean Maine. I can see why they do that but it may be hard to prove, unless they can show that they typically have all sell outs and they happen to have 1 empty room. Lots of circumstantial evidence.

the place where we stay in Nantucket does the same thing. They do it b/c they can and it's a popular place in high season.

Those are common terms in Maine in summertime. When you have to make all your revenue in just July and August, like many of these places do, you cannot afford to let any room go unsold.

They don't have to prove anything - if you wanted to argue the point, you'd have to prove that they DID re-rent the room. As someone else said, that would likely require proving that they were sold out (or at least that all rooms of the same type (king, suite, 2 doubles, etc.) were all sold.

We are encountering similar cancellation rules in Alaska - most confirmations we receive refer to their being a very short season, as way of explanation. We paid for 3 nights in Alaska 6 months ago.

This may not be the best answer, but I'd suggest calling at about 7 PM on the night in question and asking if they have any rooms available. If they say no then I'd get the name of the person who said that and the time. You'd at least be able to later say that all rooms (obviously including your canceled one) were gone. I'd think in theory, if they have even one room left that means they didn't rent "yours". In other words, they would have had a full night, but since you canceled they didn't.

It's true that those terms are very common for places with very short seasons.

Consider that, by the time you cancel, they may have turned away numerous other bookings.

Trip insurance is usually a small percentage of your "investment", but the reason you have to cancel must be covered by the policy.

If there is online booking, and you have to cancel, you may be able to determine by checking availability online that there is no availability for all or some of your dates, and you would be able to print documentation.

It is frustrating, especially for places like Nantucket where sometimes the ferries are cancelled for high winds and you can't get there, so you have to pay to spend a night elsewhere and your room on Nantucket. I remember someone posting over and over again on every travel form she could that, due to severe rain and road closures, she was unable to get to Bar Harbor the first night of her stay, and had the hotel would not budge on their refund policy.

Worst is when the weather forecast is absolutely lousy, but you have to go anyway or forfeit.

But, the cancellation policies do vary from place to place, and some will let you reschedule with some notice.

You might want to check other places, and also nearby Ogunquit and Wells, where the policies may be more liberal. Especially before things get really busy July 4th.

A few years ago, I was shocked that a place in Kennebunkport had a three day minimum in April, just because of a one-day "Taste of Kennebunkport". We stayed elsewhere, but wandered by and noticed the Vacancy sign was up.

Few years ago I helped out couple of friends that owned small inns on Siesta Key. At that time they a similar policy during the high season and occasionally we did have a late cancellation. Both places never took advantage of the cancellations. As long as we were able to rent the rooms, the owners did not hesitate to do a full refund.

The 2 places had unique rooms/condos so it wasn't about being sold out. As long as all similar rooms/condos were sold for the night, then the owners made a full refund. For example, the bigger place had 1 and 2 bedroom condos, and if a 1 bedroom condo was cancelled and we sold it, but still had 2 bedroom available for the night(s), we would still refund the deposit.

I always saw that as a good business practice. The guests were very appreciative and in most cases they stayed with us the following year.

That said, it's never a guarantee, so perhaps a trip insurance may be worth it if you think there is an above average chance that you may not be able to make it.