Several guests from Boston to Dubai were kicked out of their hotel rooms mid-stay after Marriott’s partner company, Sonder, abruptly filed for bankruptcy.
The short-term rental company, once highly valued,
suddenly saw its partnership with the hotel heavyweight come to an end.
On Sunday, Marriott announced that its licensing agreement for Sonder to use its Marriott Bonvoy reservation system, little over a year old, was over. Marriott added that its immediate priority would be to support its guests who were lodged at Sonder properties, many of whom found their luggage and other belongings stashed in plastic bags or dumped in hallways, Dailymail reported.
Affected travellers shared their harrowing experiences on social media, describing how they were given minimal notice to vacate their rooms.
Patrick M D’Aoust, a guest staying at a Sonder property in Canada’s Montreal told CNN that he was sent an email on Sunday afternoon that he had to vacate his room by Monday at 9 am. He said he was unable to defer his checkout to a later time despite requests, as hotel staff had received strict orders.
Steve McGraw, who had booked a 17-day stay at a New York property, was also asked to depart abruptly. “We ended up spending several thousand dollars more to find a new place. It was…very disruptive,” he told Business Insider.
The closure left guests mid-stay at various Sonder properties worldwide, including in London, Boston, Montreal, and New York City. Many were given less than 24 hours’ notice to vacate, and some returned to find their belongings packed into plastic bags or left in hallways. Other Sonder customers said they returned to their rooms to find their luggage packed, or found staff members at the properties in question seemingly unaware of the status of the Marriott-Sonder blow-up.
What’s The Issue?
Sonder, once a $1 billion startup seen as a competitor to Airbnb, and reportedly operated 140 properties and nearly 8,000 apartments at its peak, announced Monday it was “winding down operations immediately” and expects to initiate a Chapter 7 liquidation of its US business, while entering insolvency proceedings in its foreign markets.
While Sonder entered the licensing agreement with Marriott in 2024, the two systems reportedly struggled to integrate their booking systems, which ultimately led to what executives called a ‘sharp decline in revenue’, as per Dailymail.
In a statement, the company, which struggled to become profitable after going public in 2022 and weathering the pandemic, pinned some of the blame on its Marriott deal.
“We are devastated to reach a point where a liquidation is the only viable path forward,” Janice Sears, Interim Chief Executive Officer, wrote.
“Unfortunately, our integration with Marriott International was substantially delayed due to unexpected challenges in aligning our technology frameworks, resulting in significant, unanticipated integration costs, as well as a sharp decline in revenue arising from Sonder’s participation in Marriott’s Bonvoy reservation system.”
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