All three parties benefit. The hotel gets guests in their rooms and the additional revenue they bring with them. The buyer benefits because he is getting a terrific deal. The canceling party benefits because their cancellation penalty is reduced. There are a number of factors involved including venue, dates, rates and the amount of time left until the contracted arrival date.
Time is especially critical.
The more time left until arrival date, the better the chances of success. There are no guarantees because each set of circumstances is different. However, provided there is enough time you should, at minimum, be able to recover the cost of our service. In most cases a hotel will lessen your penalty by the amount representing re-sold rooms as long as the rates are equal to your contracted rates. In some contracts, however, the hotel retains the right to collect full penalties AND resell the rooms.