Sonder Inc. x Marriott International: ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ป’๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐๐ฝ
Everyone in hospitality has now seen the news about the Sonder x Marriott dissolution, but what I haven’t seen is enough conversation about Marriott’s response to affected guests. Below is the email Marriott sent out this weekend, and I genuinely don’t understand how the largest hotel company in the world thinks this is an acceptable standard of care. A few thoughts:
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด.๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐.ย
ยซย Your reservation has been canceled.ย ยป
ยซย Contact your bank for a refund.ย ยป
If the world’s biggest hospitality company is handling service breakdowns the same way an OTA would, at what point do we just classify the brands as OTAs themselves? Because that’s OTA behavior, not hospitality.
๐ฎ. ยซย ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐ป๐ฑย ยป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ-๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ณ.ย
A guest books directly with a brand specifically to avoid this experience. They’re loyal. They trust the flag. They expect the brand to own the issue. Telling them to chase down their credit card company? Again, that’s not hospitality, that’s shirking responsibility.
๐ฏ. ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ? ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐? ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐?ย
No proactive re-accommodation. No curated alternatives. No gesture of goodwill. Not even a proper apology. This is Marriott, an almost $80B global giant with 30+ brands, reward tiers, and a loyalty program designed to build ยซย emotional connection.ย ยป Yet the actual guest treatment here is indistinguishable from a robotic template cancellation.
๐ฐ. ๐ ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐.ย
Brands talk endlessly about ยซย guest experience,ย ยป but when real issues occur, the response exposes the truth: ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น. The brand isn’t hosting the guest anymore, it’s just the website they booked through.
Hospitality is supposed to mean something. It’s supposed to feel like something. If this is the new standard, then it’s no wonder guests struggle to see the difference between booking direct and using a third-party. And that should concern all of us in this industry.