Guests have been kicked out of their hotel rooms mid-stay after Marriott’s partner Sonder suddenly filed for bankruptcy. The abrupt shutdown has seen travellers stranded across the world, with some returning to find their belongings dumped in hallways.
Sonder, once valued at more than $1billion and a former rival to Airbnb, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on Monday after Marriott International terminated its licensing deal – forcing the company to wind down operations immediately.
It comes less than a year after Sonder, which offered short-term apartment-style rentals and boutique hotels, rebranded as Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy under a 2024 partnership allowing it to list rooms on Marriott’s website.
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However, the companies reportedly struggled to integrate booking systems, leading to what executives called a “sharp decline in revenue”. Interim CEO Janice Sears said: “We are devastated to reach a point where liquidation is the only viable path forward,’ said interim CEO Janice Sears.”
Guests were shocked on Sunday when Marriott and Sonder told them to leave hotels immediately, some mid-way through their stays.
One guest wrote on X: “Received a message from Sonder giving me less than 24 hours notice to vacate the property because its partnership with Marriott was terminated.”
Retired tech executive Steve McGraw, who holds Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy, said he and his wife were evicted halfway through a 17-day New York stay booked through Marriott.
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On Sunday, about a week into their stay, he received emails from Marriott and Sonder ordering him to vacate by 9am the next day. “We ended up spending several thousand dollars more to find a new place,” McGraw told Business Insider. “It was very, very disruptive. They treated us so poorly.”
TikTok user Avery shared a clip dragging her suitcase over a cobbled road in Montreal as snow was falling. She wrote: “POV: Trying to maintain my composure while dragging my luggage down the street after Marriott Hotels & Sonder Hotels broke up with each other on a random Sunday and told us to gtfo of the hotel room we had booked for another three nights in Montreal.”