Marriott Sonder bankruptcy leaves hotel guests stranded, homeless

Hotel guests worldwide faced a vacation nightmare after Sonder, a Marriott-backed chain, filed for bankruptcy, leaving them homeless with minimal notice.

Sonder Holdings Inc. announced the immediate wind-down of operations after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, leading to the liquidation of its US businesses and insolvency proceedings overseas.

Marriott terminated its licensing agreement with Sonder after the apartment-style accommodations defaulted on their August 2024 agreement.

Steve McGraw and his family were abruptly evicted from their Sonder rental in New York City, where they were staying for 17 days, causing major disruption to their trip.

The family had to find alternative accommodation at short notice, spending thousands of dollars to salvage their vacation.

Another guest shared her struggle of dragging luggage through snowy Montreal following the abrupt termination of services by Marriott and Sonder.

Sonder, founded in 2014, had 9,000 units globally with hub cities in Denver, San Francisco, Montreal, London, and Amsterdam, according to the company’s now-defunct website.

Marriott assured guests booked through their platform that they were working on addressing their booking needs and reservations to minimize disruption.

News of the termination and bankruptcy filing took Sonder employees by surprise, leaving them in the dark when dealing with frustrated guests.

Sonder cited financial constraints and challenges after agreeing to join Marriott in August 2024 as reasons for their liquidation.

The company, once a competitor to Airbnb, went public in 2021 with a valuation of approximately $2.2 billion.

With Post wires