I wonder how viable it'd be to issue a chargeback. I guess in grandparent poster's case, the hotel owners were afraid of booking.com and caved into their deman

I wonder how viable it'd be to issue a chargeback. I guess in grandparent poster's case, the hotel owners were afraid of booking.com and caved into their demands, while in your case, the owners knew booking.com and you can't do anything.