I am not a legal person, but it is very common practice for hotels and other accommodation providers to have such a cancellation policy. As long as they mention the cancellation policy to you before you book. I work in the serviced apartment industry and there it is even worse, with some apartments having a cancellation period of one month prior to arrival and you do not get your money back when cancelled for example 3 weeks before arrival. It is however sometimes possible to negotiate a deal with the property, that if they manage to relet the room/apartment for part of the period or the entire period that you would have stayed, you get some or all of your money back.

Bard Vos Arroyo de la Miel