Hotel or Holiday Rental Won’t Refund? How to Get Your Money Back (Australia 2026)
Last updated · Reviewed by the Claim Done team · Not legal advice
Yes, if the hotel or holiday rental cancelled on you, wasn’t as advertised, was unsafe or unusable, or kept a deposit it had no right to. Accommodation is a service under the Australian Consumer Law: for a major problem you can cancel and get your money back, paid the way you paid, not in points or credit unless you agree. Booking through a platform doesn’t take those rights away. The route: complain in writing (during the stay if you can), send a formal demand, complain to Fair Trading, send a final demand, then file at the tribunal.
Can you get your money back from a hotel or holiday rental?
When you book a hotel room, motel, serviced apartment or holiday house from a business, you’re buying a service, and the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) gives you automatic guarantees: the service must be provided with due care and skill (s 60), be fit for any purpose you made known when you booked (s 61), and be supplied within a reasonable time (s 62). False or misleading claims about the property are also unlawful (ss 18 and 29).
What you get back depends on how serious the problem is. The ACCC explains it this way:
- Major problem. The place is unsafe, can’t be used for what it’s for (no water, no power, uninhabitable, nothing like the listing), or has a problem serious enough that you wouldn’t have booked if you’d known, and it can’t easily be fixed in a reasonable time. You can cancel and get a refund (less a reasonable amount for anything already properly provided), or stay and pay a lower price.
- Minor problem. The air conditioner fails, the cot you asked for isn’t there, the pool is closed for a day. The business must fix it. If it can’t or won’t in a reasonable time, you can get it sorted elsewhere and be repaid, or cancel and be compensated for the drop in value.
On top of that, the ACCC says you can claim compensation for reasonably foreseeable loss the failure caused, such as the cost of a replacement room at short notice, and that it’s misleading for a business to say it’s never responsible for those losses.
The ACCC’s hotel example
The ACCC uses an accommodation case to explain how refunds work. A guest pays in full by credit card. The hotel gives the room to someone else by mistake and has no other rooms. The hotel must refund the money to the guest’s credit card. It can’t refund in hotel loyalty points unless the guest chooses to accept that. (If the booking was paid with points, points back is a proper refund.) The same logic applies to vouchers and credits: if you’re owed a refund, you choose whether to take anything else.
What the hotel, host or platform can’t do
- Rely on “non-refundable” or “no refunds” when it failed. The ACCC says it’s illegal to rely on terms that deny your consumer guarantee rights, and terms that try to exclude them are void (s 64). A non-refundable rate limits change-of-mind refunds, not refunds where the property wasn’t provided or was unusable.
- Hide the real price. For consumer services, a business that advertises part of the price must also show the total price prominently as a single figure (s 48). Cleaning fees, “resort fees” or service charges revealed only at checkout are worth challenging.
- Mislead you about the currency or the property. In 2023 the Federal Court ordered Airbnb’s Irish company to pay $15 million in penalties after it admitted showing Australian users prices with a “$” sign that were actually US dollars, affecting about 70,000 consumers. Photos, descriptions, star ratings and “beachfront” claims must also be accurate.
- Escape the law because the platform is overseas. The ACL reaches conduct outside Australia by companies carrying on business here (Competition and Consumer Act s 5), and a foreign-law clause can’t remove the guarantees where Australian law would otherwise apply (ACL s 67).
When you are not entitled to a refund
The ACCC says the guarantees don’t help if you change your mind, or if the stay couldn’t go ahead because of someone else’s actions, such as a government restriction. Then your booking terms decide, including the cancellation policy you agreed to when you booked, and travel insurance may cover you. A problem you were clearly told about before you booked usually isn’t a failure either.
The most common problems with accommodation
- Booking cancelled by the property. The host cancels a week out, or the hotel overbooked. Claim: a full refund, plus the extra cost of comparable accommodation booked at short notice.
- Not as advertised. Photos years out of date, “ocean views” over a car park, two bedrooms instead of three. Claim: a partial refund for the difference, or cancel and get a full refund if the gap is major, plus misleading conduct.
- Dirty, unsafe or unusable on arrival. Mould, pests, broken locks, no hot water. Claim: if not fixed promptly, leave, get a refund for the unused nights and claim the cost of moving.
- Facilities missing. Pool closed for the whole stay, no wifi in a “work-friendly” listing you booked for work. Claim: a partial refund, more if you told the host the facility was the reason for booking.
- Refund promised in points or a voucher. Claim: your money back to the card you paid with, unless you choose otherwise.
- Charged in the wrong currency or with surprise fees. Claim: the difference, including foreign transaction fees your bank charged.
- Security deposit not returned. A holiday house keeps the deposit, or deducts for “damage” without evidence. Claim: the deposit, less only properly proven costs your stay caused.
- Charged for damage after check-out. A charge to your card weeks later. Claim: proof of the damage and the cost, and a refund if it isn’t proven or wasn’t caused by you.
- Booked through a site that blames the host (and the host blames the site). Claim: write to both; the ACCC says both the platform’s and the provider’s terms apply.
- Booking failed because of the platform. A booking the site confirmed that the property never received. Claim: a refund and the extra cost of a replacement room, from the platform.
Holiday rentals, bonds and booking platforms
Is a holiday rental deposit a “bond”?
Usually not in the tenancy-law sense, at least in NSW. The Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW) doesn’t apply to short-term rental accommodation arrangements where the guest doesn’t live there as their main home (s 8(1)(bb)). So a holiday-house security deposit isn’t lodged with the NSW bond service, and getting it back is a matter for your booking terms and the consumer law, with NCAT’s consumer claims list as the forum if it comes to that. If you rented somewhere as your home, even for a short period, tenancy law may apply instead; see our Bond Dispute Letter for a rental bond. Other states have their own tenancy laws, so if you stayed long-term outside NSW, check with the local tenancy authority.
A deposit held under a booking is still your money. The host can only keep what the booking terms allow, for damage or costs your stay actually caused, and should be able to show it. Ask for itemised evidence (photos, invoices) in writing.
NSW short-term rental code of conduct
In NSW, hosts, guests, letting agents and booking platforms for short-term rentals (not hotels, motels or B&Bs) must follow a mandatory code of conduct. Two rules help guests:
- A host must provide the premises in a state consistent with what was said when advertising or listing them, or in messages to guests (cl 2.4.2).
- Everyone involved must act honestly and in good faith in any dealing, complaint or dispute (cl 2.1.2), and a booking platform told about a complaint must notify the host or guest and make sure people know how to complain to NSW Fair Trading (cls 2.2.3-2.2.4).
Anyone can complain to NSW Fair Trading about a breach of the code. Fair Trading can warn, direct, record a strike or put a host on the exclusion register, but the code doesn’t give it power to order a refund. Use a code complaint as pressure, and the steps below to get your money.
Booking platforms
The ACCC says consumer guarantees apply whether you book directly or through a booking platform, that both the platform’s and the provider’s terms apply, and that an intermediary may only have to pass on the remedy the provider offers. In practice: claim the refund from the host or hotel, ask the platform to use its own resolution process, and name both in your demand. Platforms often have their own guest refund policies; use them, but they don’t replace your legal rights.
Paying by card
If you paid by card and didn’t get what you paid for, ASIC’s Moneysmart says your bank may be able to arrange a chargeback. For an overseas property or a host who has stopped responding, it’s often the quickest route. Ask your bank as soon as you can.
What you can claim
- A full refund where the booking was cancelled by the property, or the place was unusable or a major departure from what was advertised and you left.
- A partial refund for nights you didn’t use, or a price reduction for what was missing if you stayed.
- Replacement accommodation costs: the extra you paid for a comparable room at short notice, plus transport to get there.
- Other foreseeable loss: a forfeited non-refundable booking linked to the stay, or food spoiled when a fridge failed.
- Your security deposit, less only proven costs your stay caused.
- Hidden fees and currency differences, including bank charges.
Example (round numbers, for illustration only): you book a holiday house for 5 nights at $300 a night ($1,500) plus a $500 security deposit. On arrival the hot water system is broken and the listing’s “private pool” is a shared one. The host says a plumber can’t come for four days. You leave after the first night and pay $1,600 for 4 nights at a comparable house nearby. You could claim a refund of $1,200 for the 4 unused nights, $400 for the extra cost of the replacement ($1,600 minus the $1,200 you’d have paid), a reduction for the first night (say $150, for no hot water and the shared pool), and the $500 deposit back: $2,250 in total, depending on the facts. Photograph everything before you leave.
Evidence to gather
- The listing or hotel page as it appeared when you booked: screenshot every photo and the full description, amenities list and rating.
- Your booking confirmation, price breakdown, cancellation policy and the platform’s terms.
- Proof of payment, including the currency charged and any foreign transaction fee on your statement.
- Photos and video on arrival, with timestamps: the problem, the rooms, the facilities, the view.
- Your messages to the host, hotel or platform during the stay, and their replies. Report problems in the app or by email, not just by phone.
- Receipts for replacement accommodation, transport, meals or anything else the problem cost you.
- Check-out photos of the property, and the condition report or check-out email if one was given.
- Any damage claim made against your deposit, with the evidence the host relied on.
- The business’s legal name and ABN (on the invoice, the hotel’s website, or the ABN Lookup). For a platform host, ask the platform for the host’s details for the purpose of your claim.
How to get your money back: 5 steps
Step 1: Tell the property in writing what went wrong and what you want
If you’re still there, report the problem straight away in writing (email or the booking app) and give the business a short, reasonable time to fix it. Once you’ve left, write again with the booking reference, what was wrong, what you want (“a refund of $X for the unused nights and $X for the replacement accommodation, to my card, within 5 business days”) and your evidence. If you booked through a platform, send it through the platform’s messaging too, so the platform has a record. Our guide on how to write a letter of demand shows what to include.
Step 2: No answer, a refusal or points instead of money? Send a formal demand
Our Consumer Guarantee Letter sets out the guarantees for services, why the problem was major or minor, the ACCC’s position that a refund is paid the way you paid, the amount itemised, and a 14-day deadline. It’s the letter a tribunal expects to see before you file. If the stay was part of a holiday booked through a travel agent, or the property cancelled your booking outright, our Travel Refund Demand ($49) is built for that. The general Letter of Demand ($49) is the fallback, for example for a deposit owed under the booking terms.
Send a Consumer Guarantee Letter – $49
Step 3: Complain to Fair Trading in the property’s state
Lodge a complaint with the consumer regulator in the state where the property or business is, attaching your letter. These agencies are free and can contact the business, but can’t order a refund. In NSW, a holiday rental host or platform that broke the short-term rental code can also be the subject of a code complaint to NSW Fair Trading. If you paid by card, ask your bank about a chargeback at the same time.
- NSW: NSW Fair Trading, 13 32 20, online complaint form.
- VIC: Consumer Affairs Victoria, 1300 55 81 81, general complaint form.
- QLD: Office of Fair Trading, 13 QGOV (13 74 68), make a consumer complaint.
- ACT: Access Canberra, 13 22 81, get help with a consumer issue.
- NT: NT Consumer Affairs, 1800 019 319 or 08 8999 1999, conciliation request.
- WA: Consumer Protection, 1300 30 40 54, complaints.
- SA: Consumer and Business Services, 131 882, contact CBS.
- TAS: Consumer Affairs Tasmania, 1300 654 499, enquiry and complaint form.
Step 4: Still unpaid? Send the final demand
The final demand quotes your first letter, the business’s reply and any Fair Trading or platform case number, and says you’ll file without further notice. In South Australia the courts say a final notice should be given and 21 days allowed before filing, or you may not recover your filing costs.
Step 5: File at the tribunal or court in the property’s state
File against the hotel company, the host, or the platform (or more than one), by legal name, in the state where the business is. Accommodation claims are usually small enough for the tribunal’s simplest procedure. Our Hearing Bundle ($97) organises the listing screenshots, photos, messages and receipts into evidence if the claim is defended. In WA, SA and Tasmania the claim goes to the Magistrates Court and the same product prepares your court claim.
Prepare your tribunal application – $97
Where your claim goes in each state
The forum is in the state where the business is, which for a hotel or holiday house is usually where the property is.
| State | Forum | Money limit | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | NCAT, Consumer and Commercial Division (consumer claims) | $100,000 | NCAT consumer claims |
| VIC | VCAT, Civil Claims (goods and services) | No cap | VCAT goods and services |
| QLD | QCAT minor civil dispute (consumer and trader) | $25,000 | QCAT consumer and trader disputes |
| ACT | ACAT civil disputes | $25,000 | ACAT civil disputes |
| NT | NTCAT small claims (Local Court above $25,000) | $25,000 | NTCAT applications |
| WA | Magistrates Court, consumer/trader claim (minor case up to $10,000) | $75,000 | WA consumer/trader claims |
| SA | Magistrates Court (minor claim up to $12,000) | $100,000 | CourtSA civil cases |
| TAS | Magistrates Court, Civil Division (minor civil claim up to $15,000) | $50,000 | Magistrates Court civil disputes |
Filing fees change each year and depend on how much you claim and whether you hold a concession card, so check the current fee on the tribunal or court’s own fees page (linked in the table) before you file.
The interstate rule. In NSW and VIC, if the host is an individual (not a company) who lives in another state, NCAT or VCAT can’t decide the claim (Burns v Corbett [2018] HCA 15) and it goes to court instead. Companies and people living in a territory aren’t affected. QCAT in Queensland currently hears these claims, because the Queensland Court of Appeal has held it is a court (Owen v Menzies [2012] QCA 170), although two appeals challenging that are pending. This comes up with holiday houses owned by people living interstate, so check who the host is before you file.
Private hosts. The consumer guarantees apply to supply “in trade or commerce”, which covers any business activity. A host who regularly rents out a property may be in business; a one-off private arrangement may not be. Either way, the booking contract still gives you a claim for money paid for a stay you didn’t get or a deposit kept without basis.
Time limits. NCAT says to apply within 3 years of when the problem began; VCAT says generally within six years.
After you win: getting paid
If the hotel or host doesn’t pay by the date in the order, it can be enforced. In most states the order is registered or filed with the court and enforced as a judgment: a garnishee order on the business’s or host’s bank account, seizure and sale of property, or an examination about their finances.
Tribunals do not collect the money for you. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT, an unpaid tribunal money order is first registered, recorded or filed with a court. In WA, SA and Tasmania the Magistrates Court decides the claim, so you already have a court judgment. Then you apply for the court’s enforcement tools.
| State | How the order becomes enforceable | Garnishee: bank account and wages | Other options |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Get a certified copy of the NCAT order (no fee) and register it with the Local Court (filing fee applies) | Yes: Form 69 with Form 70 (bank) or Form 71 (wages); no filing fee | Writ for the levy of property (Forms 65, 66); examination notice (Form 51 or 52) |
| VIC | Ask VCAT to have the order recorded at the Magistrates’ Court | Yes: attachment of debt (Form 71A or 71B); attachment of earnings (Forms 72A, 72B, with a hearing) | Warrant to seize property (Form 68A); oral examination (Form 67A); instalment order |
| QLD | File the QCAT order and an affidavit with a court (the Magistrates Court up to $150,000) within six years; free | Yes: enforcement warrant for redirection of debt (Form 76 or 77) or of earnings (Form 78), with Forms 9 and 74 | Seizure and sale (Form 75); enforcement hearing |
| ACT | File the sealed ACAT order and an affidavit in the Magistrates Court, serve Form 2.49, wait 7 days | Yes: debt redirection (Form 2.62 or 2.63); earnings redirection (Form 2.64) | Seizure and sale (Form 2.59); enforcement hearing (Forms 2.50, 2.51) |
| NT | Register the NTCAT order with the Local Court (certified copy and affidavit; no fee) | Yes: attachment of debts order; attachment of earnings order with a protected earnings rate | Warrant of seizure and sale; examination summons; charging order |
| WA | Already a court judgment; apply with Form 6 and the fee | Yes: debt appropriation order (Form 6, Form 2 affidavit); earnings appropriation order (individuals only, after an instalment order is broken) | Property (seizure and sale) order; means inquiry |
| SA | Already a court judgment; start through CourtSA, Enforcement tab | Yes: garnishee order (draft Form 148); wages protected to 90% of the weekly national minimum wage | Warrant of sale (Form 163); investigation or examination summons |
| TAS | Already a court judgment; file enforcement process at the registry ($49) | Yes: provisional, then final, garnishee order attaching a debt or earnings | Warrant to sell property; judgment summons and oral examination |
Questions people ask
The hotel cancelled my booking. Do I get a refund?
Yes. If the hotel can’t provide the room, the ACCC’s own example says it must refund the card you paid with, and can’t refund in loyalty points unless you agree. You can also claim the reasonably foreseeable extra cost of comparable accommodation booked at short notice.
The holiday rental looked nothing like the photos. What can I claim?
A partial refund for the difference, or a full refund if the gap is major and you left, plus extra costs. In NSW the short-term rental code also requires hosts to provide premises consistent with the listing. Screenshot the listing and photograph the property, then send our Consumer Guarantee Letter with the evidence.
Can a host keep my holiday rental bond?
Only for what the booking terms allow and what your stay actually caused, such as proven damage. Ask for itemised evidence in writing. In NSW, tenancy law doesn’t cover short-term holiday lets that aren’t your home, so the deposit is a contract and consumer law matter that NCAT can decide as a consumer claim.
My booking was “non-refundable”. Can I still get my money back?
Yes, if the property failed: cancelled on you, was unusable, unsafe or materially different from the listing. The ACCC says businesses can’t rely on terms that deny consumer guarantee rights. “Non-refundable” covers you changing your mind, not the property failing to deliver what you paid for.
The booking site says it’s the host’s problem. Who do I claim from?
Both, at first. The ACCC says the terms of both the platform and the property apply, and the platform may only have to pass on the remedy the provider gives. Use the platform’s resolution process, write to the host, and name both in your demand so neither can blame the other.
I was charged in US dollars on an Australian booking. Can I get the difference back?
Ask for it, with your bank’s foreign transaction fee. The ACCC’s case against Airbnb ended in a $15 million penalty in 2023 for showing Australian users “$” prices that were really US dollars, and Airbnb offered compensation for the exchange difference and bank fees. Prices must be clear, and the total price shown.
I was charged for damage weeks after I left. What can I do?
Ask the host or hotel for photos, invoices and the date the damage was found. Compare them with your own check-out photos. If the charge isn’t proven or wasn’t caused by your stay, demand a refund in writing and ask your bank about disputing the charge. Our Consumer Guarantee Letter can set out the demand.
Should I leave if the place is unsafe or uninhabitable?
Report it in writing first and give the business a short chance to fix it or move you. If it can’t, or the place is unsafe, leaving and booking somewhere comparable is reasonable. Photograph everything before you go and keep every receipt, because you’ll claim the unused nights and the extra cost.
Can I cancel because the weather turned bad?
Not as a consumer guarantee right, if the property is still available. The ACCC says change of mind isn’t covered, and where a third party such as a government restriction stops the stay, your booking terms decide. Check the cancellation policy and your travel insurance.
Can I complain about an Airbnb host to NSW Fair Trading?
Yes, for a NSW property. Anyone can complain to NSW Fair Trading about a breach of the short-term rental code, and it can warn, direct, record a strike or exclude a host. It can’t order a refund, so pursue your money separately with a demand letter and, if needed, NCAT.
The host lives interstate. Can I still use the tribunal?
In NSW and VIC, not if the host is an individual living in another state: NCAT and VCAT can’t decide it and the claim goes to court. QCAT in Queensland currently hears these claims. If the host is a company, or the booking was with a hotel company or the platform, the tribunal can usually hear it.
Sources
Checked 19 October 2026.
- Competition and Consumer Act 2010, compilation 167: s 5; Schedule 2 (Australian Consumer Law) ss 2, 18, 29, 48, 60-62, 64, 67, 267, 268
- ACCC: Repair, replace, refund, cancel (including the hotel refund example)
- ACCC: Travel delays and cancellations (booking platforms and intermediaries)
- ACCC: Claiming compensation
- ACCC: Airbnb to pay $15m in penalties (20 December 2023)
- Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), s 8
- NSW Government: Code of conduct for the short-term rental accommodation industry
- Moneysmart: Online shopping safety (chargebacks)
- NCAT fees, VCAT goods and services fees, QCAT fees, ACAT fees, NTCAT fees, WA Magistrates Court fees, SA Magistrates Court fees, Tasmanian Magistrates Court fees
Claim Done is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. This page is general information. For a complex or high-value matter, speak to a lawyer or a free community legal centre.