Can I see the cancellation policy and the last date for free cancellation before I confirm a hotel booking?

Yes, the cancellation policy and the free cancellation deadline are normally shown before you confirm a hotel booking, and that is the moment to read them rather than afterwards.

When you search through a hotel booking API, every room rate comes back with its own set of rules, and those rules travel with the rate all the way through to the booking screen. Some rates are fully refundable up to a certain date and time, some become partly chargeable after that date, and some are non refundable from the moment you confirm. Because the conditions belong to the rate and not to the property, rooms in the same hotel can carry completely different terms, so the policy you see on one line may not apply to the line next to it.

How much detail you get depends on the supplier behind that rate. Most send a clear deadline along with what will be charged if the booking is cancelled after it, expressed in the hotel's own local time, which matters when your customer sits in a different time zone. A few send only short general wording, and in those cases the portal can show you what was received but cannot fill in anything that was never sent. Local taxes, city fees and resort charges may also sit outside the cancellation amount, again depending on the rate and the supplier.

Before you confirm, check the deadline date and time on the exact rate you have selected, keep a copy of that wording with the booking file, and pass it to your customer in writing so there is no disagreement later.