Refund denied Hotels.com

I booked hotel stay in Florence through Hotels.com and paid in full 2 months ahead and on arrival we found it not to be a hotel but an apartment. This in itself would not have been an issue but the host never showed for us to occupy the property. We were 4 woman stranded in a foreign country at night sitting on the pavement not having any accommodation. I have tried for a month to get a refund from Hotel.com and they just respond by saying the host wont refund and that they can do nothing about this. What I find strange is that Hotels.com paid the money for the accommodation to the host prior to our occupation. Does this not usually happen once occupation takes place? The unfair treatment and ********** action is going to go unchecked and this kind of unfair treatment can continue. I demand a refund for accommodation that I could not occupy as the host did not show and hotels.com could not get hold of the host on the date of occupation and now they refuse to take ownership of this unfair treatment and asks us to understand the situation. What about my situation, I paid for something I never got. Hotel Billing and Refunds - Itin: *** - Case ID : [REQ:M-***8]