In August 2024, Marriott announced a licensing agreement with Sonder, which primarily offers apartment-style accommodations in urban markets. These properties were being marketed under a new collection called Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy, and this included around 9,000 rooms being added to Marriott’s portfolio.
Continue reading: Ouch: Marriott & Sonder End Partnership, Guests Abruptly Evicted
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Worth noting that the termination is so aggressive that folks who are mid-way through their reservations - even if pre-paid - are being told to GTFO by tomorrow morning.
I am staying in a Sonder London property and was advised I have to vacate by 9am tomorrow.
This came through via email on Sunday night..to spam.
Sadly as I booked via a third party I was told to make my own plans.
Disgusting!!!
I have the property in Orlando booked for Christmas time. F Marriott and F Sonder. Scummy POS companies.
This is pretty wild and maybe should be a bigger story. There were quite a few Sonder properties in Montreal that benefitted from this partnership and I don't know what they're going to do now - list on Airbnb I guess?
The annoying thing for the majority of guests with future bookings is that almost all stay, even flexible one we're charged to the credit card at time of booking. Only some corporate rates were exempt from this. Not that it will be too difficult to get the credit card company to manage that, just a annoying to have to deal with it.
There were a lot of good options in the partnership, I can see why Marriott would have been interested, and I can see why Sonder would have thought that the Marriott booking channel would have given them a needed boost. But it was probably too late.
Hey Marriott, a lot of your licensed properties defaulted on the $100 CASH "Elite benefits guarantee".
When will you terminate those agreements too?
Rather than trashing the place, if it's not too late, LOL.
I suggest you collect "collateral" from the place instead.
As someone who notified by email on Sunday evening that I will need to vacate a Sonder apartment within 14 hrs. I can say this is unbelievable and the amount of unprofessionalism shown by both parties, Sonder, absolutely phone line takes you a human being to address the issue, and Marriot, after waiting for 2+ hrs and being hung up on 3 x, they have said there is nothing they will do other than they can help me find a hotel for tomorrow. I am currently staying at a Sonder, out of the country and here on a work project for 4 months. There is no grace period to go from living in a fully furnished apartment one minute to “pack up 4 months of clothes, kitchen, laundry items and move to a hotel by 9am Monday morning” . This seems simply illegal, how is this allowed?
That’s absurd. Depending on the jurisdiction, wonder if that qualifies as ‘eviction,’ and whether any additional remedies other than mere partial refunds would apply. Oof. Seems like a nightmare for those affected.
Does anyone else suspect that maybe Sonder is shutting down tomorrow or something close to it? I’m just guessing, but people being told to leave with a hard deadline in the middle of their stays with less than 24 hours suggests much more than a failed alliance. If Sonder thought they had a future of any sort I would think they’d want to help people affected by this. I feel bad for each property’s employees and the guests affected.
I am booked next year during a very famous festival, I booked early to avoid high fees and prepaid. I received an email this morning saying your reservations is cancelled. Called Marriott and they are not honoring the price at their other hotels that are now 5 times the amount to stay for the festival. If they knew Sonder was in financial trouble why would they let us book a few months ago. Thy said they are going to get us refunds eventually. Not sure how long that is. They should be responsible for rebooking guests for comparable properties and rates. Cost of them doing business/ and stupidity.
I booked directly through Marriott and wasn’t given any assistance, in fact a manager on the phone told me to lower my voice and calm down when I was upset about the situation…I’m lucky I have a friend I can crash with, bc no room rates were honored, refunds have been said to take upward of 30 days. Unreal.
We are at William New York first email advised we had to vacate today. Then a short while later it said vacate the accommodation by 9am following day. No alternative accommodation offered despite out direct booking with Marriott. Told have to make and pay for your own alternative accommodation. Very disappointing customer support and care from Marriott who not bothered and seem to have no responsibility towards guests in the accommodation despite them pulling out and not fulfilling their obligations towards customers who booked and staying in their accommodation
Bonyvoyed! Yea it's quite strange from Marriott as their partnership is barely a yr old. I completed a stay with Sonder last month and after looking up the company & it's problems, I wasnt sure they could stay afloat without a bailout.
Yea , can’t evict people sorry Marriott
Maybe not in every market but certainly in a lot of them without some court involvement
So those folks should just stay put for gratis
Marriott is also losing some properties in major cities - they lost the Westin Vendôme, one of the best addresses in Paris (after losing the W few years earlier). This year they lost the Sheraton Diana in Milan which was at a really good location!
I’m not an expert, but while traveling abroad, it always feels that local hotel mgmt are really fed up with Marriott and their elite guests (I’m ambassador), and often encouraged to book directly (in the case of Design Hotels etc)
Understand that there are laws and it may qualify as an eviction. I’d also be worried about fighting this out if keys stop working and there is no staff.
Staying at Sonda Ottawa - booked for 3 weeks. Just got told today i have to be out of my room by 9am. Not happy, Jan 🙁
Rotterdam, same. Information yesterday night, you have to leave, find another place by yourself. Disgusting, as Alexandra said about London. Boycott Marriott and other world wide kind of thing
I'm reading posts from Sonder employees saying that they're now "former Sonder employees" because the entire staff has been laid off, effective immediately. Not sure if Marriott forced this or is responding to it, but either way, they're handling it badly.
I have a 6 month booking that no one has come back to me about travelling from australia and have been saving for this for ages...just so upset and the cost so close to christmas and holidays
Marriott is kind of "out there" with Sonder and Homes. We learned not to ever stay at Marriott Homes again after a fiasco in Paris. Much of the Marriott advertising was Fake, fake photos, fake descriptions.
Sonder, visiting London last month, they looked attractive and a better price than the way over priced London hotels. We read reviews and decided to steer clear. A few weeks later we heard bankrupcy. Now Marriott quits.
We know its a race for every CEO to have more rooms than the other, we think Marriott risked too much.
We still like Marriott hotels, but we are staying away from any hotel brands homes or apartments.
@Applesa
Marriott can refuse doing business with a customer.
Hotel guest do not have landlord/tenant relationship and protections.
You can't be evicted because you're not a tenant, but as a customer you're definitely trespassing.
At least Aprs was a bit knowledgeable.
Same in Rotterdam. We didn't receive any information as we booked via a third party booking.
Around 11am this morning, an employee just told us to get out right away.
Pretty sad crazy for the experience as a marriott customer but also quite sad and unacceptable for all the employees all over the world.
Marriott did not own Sonder. Sonder is (was) a listed company on Nasdaq. The process of winding it down is decided and driven by the Sonder management and board of directors.
Depends on jurisdiction. In many areas of the US once a hotel guest reaches 30 days they're legally a tenant and offered the same protections as a tenant. This is why many budget hotels like Motel 6 have a policy that guests must check out for 24 hours after 29 days.
Reading the comments from folks who were told to vacate by the next day - that is just terrible. Putting the pieces of info together, it seems Sonder is going to declare bankruptcy today and shut down operations. Marriott, got wind of this (probably because Sonder asked them for an emergency infusion of cash), and instead of looking out for its customers who booked through Marriott, they severed their ties with Sonder immediately yesterday just so they wouldn't have to accommodate its Sonder customers at other Marriott properties today.
That is a terrible, terrible look for Marriott and if this turns out to be what happened, it is most definitely going to cause me to think twice before booking a Marriott property.
An important question what are Marriott legal obligation if a Sonder property was booked through a Marriott channel?
This is also happening to those who booked via platforms other than Marriott. Sonder created the problem and Marriott is simply reacting. As are other booking platforms.
Yep. I checked into a Sonder in Dubai last night and received the email overnight. Assuming it was some kind of scam, I asked at the front desk as was told ‘we’ve all been fired, we don’t know what’s going on but you need to be out today’
Rough on the staff, primarily, but the way Marriott has handled the situation for customers is beyond hopeless. “We’ll refund the unused portion of your stay”…. So what about the half day lost to finding somewhere else to stay, packing my sh*t and moving out? What about the $200 per night difference between the advance booking for Sonder and the walk in rate at the IHG suites around the corner?
I’m only a lowly Gold Elite, but having switched from Hilton (7 yrs Gold / Diamond) earlier this year, I reckon I’ll be switching right back after this debacle…
It would be really helpful if you repost an article with new info that you highlight what has changed, if anything, from a previous version.
Always remember, for Marriott the properties are the customer.
Loyalty members and guest stays are the product.
So no surprise stranded guests are being treated like stranded product.
Look at the bright side - at least you had a front desk. I stayed at a Sonder recently and there was no front desk at all, and people who didn't read the email with check-in instructions had difficulty figuring out how to get in the front door and access their rooms.
What a shabby way to treat customers. Imagine an airline declaring bankruptcy suddenly and telling the pilots of planes in the air to land at the nearest airport rather than continue to the destination.
We prepaid for a booking at Sonder London that we were informed 'will not be honoured'. They broke our contract. Had we, at any point 'simply cancelled' our agreement, the booking terms meant we would have forfeited the whole payment. We hope we can recover something through the booking agent. Marriot cannot help us with the refund and could only offer us an alternative at 4x the price we paid for the 'not to be honoured' Sonder Marriot. They may not have an agreement anymore but that is their internal dispute. They should take responsibility for it, Marriot having presented a Sonder Marriot hotel to us as part of its trusted brand.
I was advised to vacate my Sonder room by 9AM this morning in downtown LA. Last night was a chaotic struggle to find alternate accommodations, and now I'm paying double my rate at a higher tier Marriot property. When I called thus morning about a price match, they summarily declined. I will never stay with Marriot again!
Points us back to the question I had, which was, are hotel brands just financial engineering companies at this point, making acquisition after acquisition (or partnership) simply to grow revenue regardless of whether the underlying business is good or interested in actual providing of hospitality.
If you're in many European countries, and you have already completed >=30 days (this is the rule in Spain for example) of your stay, you have legal rights as a tenant. You could contact local authorities immediately to at least get a report written down on paper, providing you with documentation that you've been wronged.
Marriott leaving people high and dry with no recourse but to find something else on their own at significantly higher cost.
Bad showing and lack of concern by Marriott just trying to wash their hands of this and not even offering rebooking/accommodations at the same rate.
Sonder just posted on their press site that they are immediately wining down operations. Smh
It’s legitimately staggering that Marriott made the terrible business decision to partner with Sonder so soon before their operations failed. I’m certain that there’s a report from a junior analyst sitting unread in some EVP’s Outlook raising financial red flags with this partnership. Hopefully there are consequences for whoever approved this partnership.
Also raises the question of why, if Sonder has been in financial distress for some time, Marriott did not simply buy the business with a longer term plan to spin the assets to some of its stronger regional Marriott franchisees where there are Sonder properties.
Some really bad decisions here.
In many US states, a hotel stay over a certain length (usually 30 days but sometimes up to 90) is considered a lease / rental just like an apartment rental. That means the hotel can't evict the guest (tenant) without a court order. It doesn't even matter if it's one long reservation or multiple continuous reservations, as long as it's uninterrupted. Also, once a stay reaches the threshold, it becomes no longer subject to transient occupancy taxes in many jurisdictions, and is even eligible for a refund of occupancy taxes paid prior to the change from transient to long term occupancy. Any guest who has stayed in one of the Sonder hotels longer than the required number of nights to effectively become a tenant, or who is staying under a reservation for more than the required number of nights (even if the actual nights stayed to-date is less), should definitely sue if they were evicted. The law doesn't allow landlords to engage in self-help and evict tenants by themselves.
Even for Marriott, this is incredibly bad. I don't have high expectations with them. But do have at least being able to accommodate you somewhere and just leaving you on the street is something that at the very minimum they can do. Like can't they at least walk these people to a Courtyard or anywhere? You booked through Marriott, it's one of those things that Marriott would tell you is central to the value proposition they offer. Simply unbelievable.
I was told to leave the premises of Sonder Laguna Beach by 9am today. All staff told me as of today they are unemployed and their notice arrived after the customers were informed, so when people started complaining, the had no idea what was going on.
Sonder is (and has always been) a giant dumpster fire. Yet another startup that tried to use technology to "enrich shareholder value", but in reality, it was mediocre at best.
Being locked out of my Sonder apartment at 2am in Rome a few years ago was horrible to deal with. Keypad lock failed, their customer support are all remote. It took 2 hours to get access to the apartment. No compensation.
They're notorious for purchasing cheap real estate and doing incredible surface level renovations, yet at the same time not making an effort towards what actually matters beyond website photos. My apartment in Rome had a terrace I couldn't access because the door was broken. The elevator was out of service for the entirety of my week long stay. Walls were paper thin, to the level that my neighbor running their bathroom sink made me think my sink magically started running.
I've personally avoided them since, but unfortunately have had some work trips where I was booked at their properties. The surface-level renovation comment rings true in all of their listings I've stayed in. Nothing like trying to sleep before an early morning meeting, but you can't because you can hear every thrust of the couple in the apartment next to you
Had to get out of NY Sonder mid stay. My husband and children and I were told to get out with zero help from Marriott/Sonder even though we had pre-paid for the entire stay. Called Marriott and the customer service rep hung up on me. #neverMarriott
I booked for a 10 day stay and have in writing that my rate and reservation would be honored. Fat chance. Marriott has done nothing to stand behind bookings that were in existence. Shame on them. Terrible customer service.
I was kicked out at by a guy walking down the hall pounding on every door at 9am. He was vaguely apologetic, but after a 20min hold, the Marriott phone agent basically told me I should've read my email from them yesterday. The best Marriott could do was to rebook me at a local hotel at the same-day book rate, which was double what I had already prepaid for the Sonder stay. No discount, no compensation. F- Sonder, F-Marriott, and I've been a gold member for decades.
If I was chucked out of a Sonder this morning, I would have walked out with the flatscreen TV and the coffee machine under my arm. I doubt any of the just-sacked staff would try to stop
me either.
The Westin Vendôme is indeed closed now and works has started inside/on the building.
I really enjoyed the one stay I had in Sonder. Wasn't too familiar but I am a bit surprised that Airbnb-but-legit hasn't worked out better.
What confuses me are all the comments from people rebooking at a higher last minute rate with Marriott. You should be rebooking with anyone but Marriott at this point. Why reward them for terrible service.
I appreciate people reporting on this, but the most frustrating thing I’ve noticed is how much the guest impact is covered - but not the employees. We were out of a job less than 4 hours after this was announced with no warning from either company. Our impact was way worse - there are THOUSANDS of us with no employment now. Best wishes to the guests affected, and former ex-employees like me who now have to figure out how to navigate this mess
Thanks for sharing that… interesting Sonder is claiming Marriott is part of why they went belly up when it’s quite clear that they were already in trouble.
Sonder was a great brand and product. Incredibly disappointing to see Marriott absolve itself of its responsibilities for its part in a poor IT integration and then stick it to consumers. Maybe a symbolically important example of Marriott’s poor business practices?
Yeah, I have seen that comment from Sonder in many places. The integration with Marriott cost revenue. I doubt it though, and it is just the Sonder management trying to cover their own behinds.
What could of course have happened is that Sonder shut down their own channels before they were ready with the Marriott channel, but I am not sure I'd blame Marriott for that decision.
I have a reservation at Laguna Beach Sonder in March. I got email from Sonder first and 15 minutes later an in-app notification from Marriott. Great, it looked like a nice property.
I also have reservation in January for Sonder Savannah so I gotta shop around again on that one, too. Argghhh
This is why I parted ways with Marriott a while back. Their customer service is really something so I just decided to have no headaches from them. Some people in this community are just hooked with them because of silly points but I value my peace a lot more than silly customer service and a few points that I can get incrementally.
If one booked Sonder thru Marriott, then Marriott has to come thru for those guests and do the right thing.
Its a company thing but also a CEO's reputation.
That what I said to the employees in Rotterdam. Good luck, with finger crossed. We talked in the street and said We're not the saddest of the story. Although being fired from a hotel without any help never happened to us.
Only reacting? Business first, without taking people in account. No humanity in commercial relations? What is that?...
Wow. Just, wow. Marriott really, really does not care about its customers.
Message received loud and clear.
Welp, looks like that's what happened.
Bye-bye, Marriott. I'll be avoiding Marriott-family hotels like the plague from now on.
If history has taught us anything Marriott leadership doesn't care about what they "should" do from guest pov, only what shareholders and ownership groups care about.
Yeah I thought of that but they had security guards at the doors on Monday morning
HELLO, sonder filed for immediate insolvency, signs on doors, no payments to anyone, bankruptcy collapse....they are the owners, they are culprits, and Marriott became a brand partner of theirs but they were never a HOTEL company. u did it, despite the terrible reviews on bonvoy app, so u could get and redeem points unlike airbnb with no real loyalty program.
its disgusting and wild and why dont believe false prophetic companies and love the W's and Editions and Hyatts and jw Marriotts bc it simply cant happen there
obviously, Marriott would put their booked guests via them in the hundreds of other properties surrounding, already going to cost them enough
for those that leave bonvoy, I support. I support all people defecting programs and great CC's bc....later suckas more room for us. goodbye. never booked a sonder.
smells like PE sceming distressed debt BK ....sure were some lovely ones I passed in NOMAD and chelsea
Marriott is being sued in Thailand along with their Thai development and anchor partner, Apex PCL, for massive fraud in the failed Sheraton Phuket Grand Bay Residences project. Scores of buyers were duped by Marriott and Apex, and buyers losses are north of 15 million dollars. The FBI, DOJ, SEC, and FTC should open investigations into this matter.