[QUOTE=RazorFish1801;5579395]Yes, I've learned about this the hard way too.[/QUOTE]Dayuse let's you cancel up to the day. Basically if you don't check in and swipe your card you should be able to cancel beforehand.
Hotels dot com has an option for some hotels that allows you to cancel the room up to the day of the booking. If you don't stack your rotation 3 deep for the hotel so you get one round during your lunch break, then another for happy hour, and the third for breakfast the next day, this is a good option. A lot of the hotels that allow you to cancel the day of will require you to pay a few bucks more for that privilege.
First off the extra $10 is definitely worth it if you're dealing with someone new or someone in your rotation you know isn't super reliable. But it gets even better. Often times the hotel that offered you the last minute cancellation for the up charge will have available rooms the day of your date for a lower price anyway. If the SB doesn't show, you cancel the room and move on. If she does show and the room is cheaper, cancel the first booking and then rebook a non refundable for a lower price. It takes all of 10 minutes. If she shows and the room isn't cheaper that day, you paid an extra $10 to protect $125 or more depending on the hotel.
Frankly though, if you stack enough ladies in the rotation for each room, you can just book the cheaper non refundable rooms each time.