Guide for hosts
Your retreat cancellation policy
A retreat cancellation policy needs to say three things plainly: what a guest gets back if they cancel, what you require of them so a real emergency doesn't cost them their whole deposit, and what happens if you, the host, are the one who has to cancel. Plenty of hosts write the first two and skip the third, which is the one most likely to catch them off guard. Get all three down on paper before you open registration, and you'll spend a lot less time fielding "what if" questions once deposits start coming in.
Should your retreat cancellation policy be non-refundable?
For me, yes, and that's the policy I run. I've kept a no-refund policy since my first retreat, including through COVID, when I had guests test positive right before a flight more than once. It would have been easy to start carving out exceptions case by case, but a policy you bend for one guest stops being a policy. What makes a non-refundable deposit fair is what you pair it with, which is the next piece.
Why require guests to carry travel insurance?
You require travel insurance so a guest who has a real emergency doesn't lose their deposit, without that risk landing on you. On Episode 3 of the podcast, I talked through how this plays out: I require them to get travel insurance, and if a guest has to cancel for something like a death in the family or a sickness, "I helped them file a claim and then the travel insurance will reimburse them their deposit." The policy pays the guest back. Your non-refundable terms with the guest never have to change.
Not every travel insurance policy covers the same things, and that matters more than hosts expect. Some only cover a short list of named reasons (illness, a death in the family, a documented emergency). Others cover cancellation for any reason, which protects a guest even when their reason doesn't fit a named category. Point your guests toward policies you've actually looked at, and say so plainly in your own marketing and your booking page, not just in the contract's fine print. A non-refundable deposit paired with a clear path to getting reimbursed through insurance reads very differently to a nervous guest than a non-refundable deposit on its own.
What does a guest get back if they cancel?
A guest typically forfeits their deposit to you and recovers it, if at all, through their own travel insurance claim rather than a refund from you directly. That's the whole point of pairing the two policies: your cancellation terms stay simple and consistent, and the guest's protection comes from a policy built for exactly this. Spell this out in the contract itself, not just in a verbal conversation when someone books, so nobody's surprised by it three months later when something comes up.
Can a guest transfer their seat instead of canceling?
Yes, and it's worth building this option into your policy on purpose. If a guest can no longer come, letting them find someone to take their place, a friend, a partner, anyone willing to step in, protects your headcount and gives the original guest an alternative to losing their deposit outright. Spell out how a transfer works in the contract: whether the new person has to sign the same contract, by what date a transfer has to happen, and whether any price difference applies. It costs you almost nothing to allow, and it turns a cancellation that would otherwise be a pure loss for the guest into something closer to a solution.
Does a strict cancellation policy actually change who books?
Yes. A non-refundable deposit, paired with the right insurance requirement, tends to filter for guests who are genuinely planning to come rather than guests who are still deciding. On the podcast we talked about how money down makes a booking feel real, the same way booking a flight does. Once there's money down, the trip stops being a maybe. That same shift in mindset is what a clear cancellation policy reinforces: a guest who understands exactly what they're agreeing to tends to treat the date on the calendar more seriously than one who thinks they can change their mind for free later.
What happens if you, the host, have to cancel?
This is the piece hosts tend not to think through until they're already in it, and it's harder than the guest side because a guest's travel insurance doesn't cover you. It would be a disaster if I had to cancel one, and I've thought through what I'd do if a venue fell apart or I couldn't be there: having a trusted co-host who knows my events well enough to run one without me, as a real plan B, not just a hope that it never comes up. Even then, the math isn't simple. As I said on the podcast, even if every guest got their deposit reimbursed through their own insurance, I probably couldn't recover what I'd already spent on the venue and vendors.
That's worth sitting with before you ever launch a retreat. Decide now, in writing, what you'd do for guests if you had to cancel: a full refund if you can manage it, a credit toward a future trip, or some combination, and say so in your own contract rather than figuring it out under pressure the one time it actually happens.
It's also worth asking your venue, before you sign anything, what happens to your own deposit if you're the one who has to pull out. Some venues will work with you on rescheduling. Others won't budge on what you've already paid them. Either way, you want to know the answer before you're standing in it, not while you're trying to figure out how to break the news to a group of guests.
Where should your cancellation policy actually live?
Your cancellation policy belongs in three places: the contract a guest signs when they book, the confirmation email they get right after, and the sales page they see before they ever pay a deposit. A policy that only exists in a PDF nobody reopens isn't protecting anyone. Say it plainly and early, and you'll get fewer surprised messages later and a guest who trusts you more for having been upfront about it.
None of this is legal advice. Cancellation and refund terms, and what a travel insurance policy is required to cover, vary by where you're hosting and where your guests live. Check your contract and your recommended policies with a licensed insurance agent and, if you're unsure how your terms hold up, an attorney, before you publish anything.
This piece fits inside the larger sequence covered in how to plan and run a retreat, and it should sit in the same document as your deposit and payment plan: see retreat contracts, deposits and payment plans. And because a cancellation policy only works alongside the right coverage, retreat insurance and liability waivers covers what you carry as the host, separate from what you require of guests. If you haven't locked your venue's own cancellation terms yet, choosing a retreat venue covers what to ask before you sign, and if your budget doesn't have room to absorb a cancellation at all, your retreat budget is the place to fix that before it's a crisis.
Questions hosts ask
Should a retreat deposit be refundable?
I run a non-refundable deposit, and plenty of hosts do. What makes that workable for guests is requiring them to carry travel insurance, so a real emergency costs them a claim, not their whole deposit.
Does travel insurance cover a host who has to cancel?
No, not typically. A guest's travel insurance protects their own payment to you. If you have to cancel as the host, you're generally on your own for what you've already spent on the venue and vendors, which is why it's worth deciding your own refund or credit policy before you ever need it.
What should a cancellation policy include?
At minimum: what a guest gets back if they cancel, the travel insurance you require of them, and what you'll do for guests if you're the one who has to cancel. All three belong in the signed contract, not just in a conversation.