a.d. 1768 Boutique Hotel in Ragusa

Last year I had booked 3 rooms for me and my US friends for the month on May.
Due to the covid, we were forced to cancel the trip.
I asked for the refund but the owner proposed a voucher instead, no refund.
In May last year, nobody knew exactly how the situation was going to evolve and probably we were all hoping that in few months time, we would be back to normality.
We tried to rebook our trip in sept / oct.
But borders continued to be closed and no possibility to travel.
We have been hoping for such a long time to be able to rebook our trip.
It is not yet possible and in the meantime other negative circumstances have forced us to cancel the trip definitively.
So I contacted the hotel and asked for a refund (minus a fair commission for the hotel). The answer was negative.
I was only offered the reimbursement of 1 room out of 3.
The owner said she cannot refund all the guests that had booked or she will go bankrupt.
I tried to convince her that in a situation like a pandemic, the refund for cancellation due to the Covid are the usual procedure.
I have in fact received full refund from 7 different hotels in Sicily and Puglia, with no problem.
Only the a.d. 1768 is not following this procedure.
The owner also told me that she has the right by law to refuse reimbursement, which is at the discretion of the owner.
I am sure this is true and she is not acting against the law at all (even because she is a lawyer).
But I am sad and disappointed by the position this wonderful hotel has decided to adopt.

I think in the evaluation of a service, of a performance or a hotel, one should also consider the human aspect and the ethical behaviour.