I am very familiar with Holiday Inn's and about every other hotel chain being a road warrior for work. When you book online in advance they usually offer an Advance Rate which is less than any other rates but you have to pay in advance and it is non-refundable or changeable. Any hotel you have to pay for a room in advance usually has the same cancelation requirements. In the future I would not book any hotel that requires payment up front. I would contact the Hotel Manager and see if you can get anywhere on changing it. It sucks but you must always read the small print and ask what the cancelation policy is for the room you booked. The other thing I have noticed in the last year is many hotels are requiring 24 hour notice on cancelations so you have be careful with that also.