Guests ejected mid-stay from bankrupt hotel chain Sonder

Guests around the world have been told to leave their accommodation mid-holiday after property rental firm Sonder suddenly went bankrupt.

A year after the partnership was established, the hotel chain Marriott terminated its leasing agreement with Sonder, leading to the collapse. This allowed Sonder Rooms to be booked through Marriott’s various booking platforms and apps.

But Marriott said it had to cut ties with the short-term rental and serviced apartment firm because of “Saunders’ default.”

One customer on Reddit said he couldn’t get back to his room where his luggage was, while others shared photos of themselves hauling luggage onto the streets and looking for a room elsewhere.

Sonder Rooms can no longer be booked through the Marriott site and app. Marriott said it is helping people who booked through its own platforms, but is advising people who booked through third parties to seek a refund through their credit card issuer.

“Sonder has faced severe financial constraints arising from, among other things, lengthy challenges in the integration of the company’s systems and the booking arrangement with Marriott International,” Sonder said in a statement on its website.

Seen as a rival to Airbnb, which offers alternatives to traditional hotels, Sonder focused on premium serviced apartments and accommodations.

Founded in Montreal, it operates thousands of rooms in more than 40 cities, all of which will now close as the company is seeking bankruptcy proceedings in all territories where it operates.

“We are devastated to have reached the point where liquidation is the only viable way forward,” said Janice Sears, Sonder’s interim chief executive.

Its integration with Marriott was “significantly delayed due to unexpected challenges in aligning our technology infrastructure”, he said, adding that it resulted in significant costs.

He said there was a “significant decline in revenue resulting from Sonder’s involvement in Marriott’s Bonvoy reservation system.”

Marriott Bonvoy is a booking and rewards system operated by Marriott.

One person said he had received no communication about his canceled Sonder reservation, that there was no way to contact the firm online, and said it was “causing significant concern”.

Rob Goodwin was suddenly out of work this week as a result of Sonder’s collapse.

Mr. Goodwin, the front desk manager at the Sonder The Merchant hotel in New York City’s lower Manhattan area, was trying to help a guest extend her stay on Sunday when he encountered an unexpected error in the booking system.

Extension dates were no longer available, even though the hotel was only 80% full at the time.

Shortly afterward, Mr. Goodwin said, another guest came down to the front desk and showed him an email from Marriott instructing the guest to vacate the property by the next morning.

“Leadership troubled us for a long time,” Mr. Goodwin said. He said he and his co-workers were unaware of the situation for several hours.

Mr Goodwin spent 16 hours at the Sonder property on both Sunday and Monday to help guests locate alternative accommodation options. He said he was paid only half of that time.

“It was a mess. It was a huge mess,” he said, adding that most of the guests at his venue expressed sympathy for him and his colleagues.

Mr. Goodwin is now unemployed. But he said he is optimistic he will find similar work despite his connections to building owners in New York City.

He has an 8-year-old daughter, and he said, “It’s just too expensive to deal with right now.”

Sonder’s properties often have no staff and guests rely on a door code for entry. Some people have complained that their codes no longer work and that owners are not immediately available to help get their items back.

Many users said the only reason they booked with Sonder was because it seemed reliably “backed” by the famous Marriott brand – but now they felt betrayed.

One user on X said, “Marriott sucks,” and wanted to charge her hundreds of dollars per night to rebook her into one of its Courtyard brand hotels.

Marriott said on its website that it did not charge customer cards for Sonder bookings, but would facilitate refunds by coordinating “with the appropriate parties.”

Marriott said it has a portfolio of more than 9,700 properties with 30 brands in 143 countries, and its business model includes hotel operations as well as franchising and licensing hotels, residential properties, timeshares and lodging properties.

The BBC has sought comment from Marriott International and Sonder regarding customer complaints.