@Marie82 How does the host suffer for last minute cancellations by guest? Guests still typically get hit with 50% if we cancel...but if a host cancels they get hit with a $100.00 fee? If I book a house for a week at $2000.00 and I cancel last minute, I still pay $1,000 but if host cancels, he/she pays $100 penalty? That's a 5% fee compared to my 50% fee.
Now for my particular experience, I had rented a room, which the host then canceled because someone wanted to rent the whole house. Clearly, the penalty is not steep enough to prevent the host from canceling on me anyway. The extra money from the whole house rental clearly trumps the miniscule penalty fee for canceling on me...
Even if something intentional happens like a boiler breaks, you, as a host, act as an independent hotel. I would certainly expect a hotel to take responsibility for their cancellations instead of expecting the guest to.