Edinburgh business travel · NovaBid
Cancellation and changes, in plain English
This is how cancelling works, in the words you would actually use. One rule covers most of it: each hotel sets its own free-cancellation window, shown on the offer before you pay. Cancel before it closes for a full refund. After it closes, the hotel is paid, because it held the rooms for you.
NovaBid is signing its founding independent Edinburgh hotels now. Businesses join the list and post first, the day the fifth hotel is live. What opening depends on.
What is NovaBid's cancellation policy?
Each hotel sets its own free-cancellation window, from 48 hours to 30 days before check-in, and it is shown on the offer before you pay. Before the window closes you can cancel for a full refund, with no charge and no reason required. After it closes, or if nobody arrives, there is no refund and the hotel is paid as normal for having held the rooms. Refunds go back to the original payment method, normally within five to ten business days. Changes to dates or guest names after confirmation are at the hotel's discretion, and we will ask on your behalf.
Written and checked by Thomas Mellot, founder of NovaBid, who has worked in hotels and bars in Edinburgh, Amsterdam and the Alps. About Thomas.
Last reviewed . We correct these pages when the facts change; tell us if something here is wrong.
How it works
01
Before the window closes: cancel, full refund
Open the booking under Bookings in your dashboard and choose Cancel booking; the refund is issued the same moment. Or email hello@novabid.co.uk with your booking reference. No charge, no questions, no reason needed. The window is counted to the hotel's check-in time on the check-in date (usually 15:00 UK time; your booking shows the exact deadline), and the cancellation takes effect when we receive it, so if you are close to the line, do it rather than sleeping on it.
02
After the window closes, or nobody arrives: the hotel is paid
There is no refund. The hotel turned away other business to hold those rooms on those nights and is paid as normal. This is the same trade every hotel makes and we do not pretend otherwise.
03
Changing rather than cancelling
Dates and guest names after confirmation are the hotel's decision, not ours, and we will ask for you. Independents are often more flexible than a booking system would be, because a person is deciding. Ask early: a change requested a fortnight out is a different conversation from one requested the night before.
Pricing
Free for businesses.
No markup on the rate, no subscription and no per-booker fee. The hotel pays a published commission on a paid booking.
Frequently asked
How do I cancel a booking?
From the booking itself: Bookings, open the stay, Cancel booking. Or email hello@novabid.co.uk with your booking reference. The time that counts is when we receive it, not when you decided, measured against the hotel's check-in time on the check-in date (usually 15:00 UK time). Your booking shows the exact deadline.
How long does a refund take?
It goes back to the original payment method, normally within five to ten business days, on Stripe's timelines rather than ours. Card refunds sometimes show on a statement a day or two after the bank has actually released them.
What if only some of my travellers drop out?
Tell us as soon as you know. Reducing a booking is a change, so it is the hotel's decision, and the hotel's cancellation window still frames it: before it closes there is usually room to adjust, after it there is not. For a block of rooms, ask about this at the offer stage, not after.
Can a hotel cancel on us?
A confirmed booking is a contract between you and the hotel, made through NovaBid as the hotel's disclosed agent, and it is already paid. If a property could not honour a booking we would refund you in full and work to place your people somewhere comparable. It has not happened, and we would tell you here if it had.
Do different hotels have different cancellation terms?
Yes. Each hotel chooses its own free-cancellation window: 48 hours, 7 days, 14 days, or any number of days up to 30 before check-in. The window is shown on the offer before you accept, so you can compare flexibility alongside price rather than discovering it later. It is never shorter than 48 hours.
Is anything non-refundable?
We do not sell non-refundable rates. Every booking carries a free-cancellation window of at least 48 hours. That is deliberate: business travel moves, and a rate that punishes you for it is a false economy.
Try it for one trip
Join the list to post an Edinburgh trip the day the fifth founding hotel is live. Hotels then send private offers, and nothing is charged until you confirm one.
Join the list