Not how it actually works out in my experience. Maybe if I'd been more persistent I'd've got some more money back, but it sounds like the person in the article was also offered more money once they were more persistent, so that doesn't seem like a clear win for direct booking.
The person in the article did not reserve a room at a major chain hotel, so they would not get the benefits of having the hotel brand’s policies enforced.
That is the benefit of reserving Hyatt/Hilton/Marriott/IHG/etc. They have contracts with the hotel owner (franchisee) that will allow them to get their money that they recompense you and heavy penalties to the franchisor for the franchisee not following policy, incentivizing the hotel to not screw the customer in the first place.
Hotel owners change brands all the time too, and the existing hotel brand notifies and migrates reservations to other area hotels when that happens. As opposed to this situation at some random unaffiliated hotel in NYC.
