Global holiday chaos as thousands of tourists are kicked out of their rooms mid-stay as Airbnb’s rival Sonder goes bust after Marriott deal failed

The collapse of AirBnb’s rival service Sonder has caused holiday chaos around the world as tourists were kicked out of their rooms mid-stay after the company’s deal with Marriott Hotels fell through.

Holidaymakers were stranded on their way from London to New York due to the sudden closure; Some returned to find their belongings stuffed into plastic bags or thrown into the corridors.

Sonder, once valued at more than $1bn (£762m) and hailed as a rival to Airbnb, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on Monday after Marriott International terminated its licensing deal and the company was forced to cease operations immediately.

Sonder allows customers to book apartments around the world, but its service differs from AirBnb because Sonder rents and manages properties rather than providing a platform for renting properties.

It also had a tie-in agreement with Marriott Hotels that allowed customers to book one of 10,500 hotel rooms worldwide.

Following Sonder’s collapse, customers who booked Marriott rooms through the service were suddenly evicted from their rooms, some halfway through their stay.

Guests were caught off guard Sunday when Marriott and Sonder ordered them to evacuate immediately, some resorting to desperate measures and sleeping in their cars.

Meanwhile, Brits face the prospect of spending huge sums or canceling their plans after being informed their future stay will not be accepted.

Brit Connor Harley tells how next month’s trip to New York, which he paid for in February, has been jeopardized by Sonder’s sudden bankruptcy

Sarah Hughes, from Ellesmere Port, was planning a trip to New York with her family at the end of the month and has now been cut short

Connor Harley told how his trip to New York next month, which he had paid for in February, was jeopardized by Sonder’s sudden bankruptcy and he had to pay for a more expensive hotel instead.

After calling Marriott’s customer service line, she said she was told ‘my reservation was canceled and I could go online and make another reservation with Marriott.’

‘There is no mention of what will happen to my money, which they accepted from me approximately 9 months ago, and they have no plans to accommodate me unless I go online and make another reservation!

‘I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect some sort of plan to accommodate clients that you’d be happy to cancel through no fault of their own.

‘Thank you, as always, Hilton Garden Inn for coming to the rescue, albeit at a higher price. ‘Now I’m going back to stay in the hotel I used on my first trip to New York 10 years ago.’

Sarah Hughes, from Ellesmere Port, was planning a trip to New York with her family at the end of the month.

‘We will fly on November 28,’ he said. ‘I received an email saying we couldn’t honor our booking because they had lost their license agreement.’

Carol Tsai was in the middle of a six-day stay at a Marriott hotel in London on Sunday when she unexpectedly received an email informing her that she had to vacate the hotel by 9 a.m. the next day.

Australian Kianna McKandie took her first ‘big trip’ to London without her family when Sonder’s bankruptcy disrupted her plans

Social media posts showed him enjoying a visit to a local pub before the ‘horrible’ news left him with no place to stay.

“After a long day, I’m coming back to my room and about to take a shower because we have plans early tomorrow morning,” he wrote in a post on Facebook.

‘Luckily I checked my email and voila! The dreaded message where we were told to check out ASAP because our reservation was no longer valid??!!! Are we now being thrown out for a fully prepaid 6 night reservation??!!

‘I tried calling Marriott International’s customer service, only got [to] give up!! Since we don’t have time to research, we can only book another hotel and hope it’s okay.

‘Holiday totally ruined thanks to Marriott International.’

And Australia’s Kianna McKandie took her first ‘big trip’ to London without her family when Sonder’s collapse disrupted her plans.

“When I returned to the hotel today just after lunch, I was told I had to leave,” he wrote on Facebook on Monday.

‘They told me I should have received an email about this yesterday. [but] I haven’t received any emails about this. There’s only one person I know here, but he’s a busy man.

Sonder venues in London scheduled to close include Kensington Gardens Hotel

The Henry Hotel in Bayswater is another venue expected to close following Sonder’s collapse.

‘I waited two hours at the Flight Center for them to find me a room at the Novotel. ‘I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cry more than once in the last few hours.’

The sudden collapse comes less than a year after Sonder was rebranded as Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy under a 2024 partnership that allows Marriott to list rooms on its website.

But the two companies reportedly struggled to integrate their booking systems, leading to what executives called a “sharp decline in revenue.”

“We are devastated to have reached a point where the only viable path forward is divestment,” said interim CEO Janice Sears.

Staff employed by Sonder reported that they were left unaware of the seriousness of the company’s problems, and some were even told by hotel guests that the company was going bankrupt.

“Many of us in the field haven’t even heard the news from the company,” one former employee said in a Reddit post.

‘We learned from the guests. Before we even realized what was happening, the guests came to us showing their canceled reservations on their phones. This is how we learned that we had no business anymore.

‘Managers (front line) were left completely in the dark. We began reaching out to senior leaders for guidance on any issue and were met with silence. We were trying to support our teams without any information.

‘There was no warning, no communication, no compassion. ‘We experienced nothing but confusion and panic as we tried to manage the guests’ disappointment while processing our own shock.’

A second employee from the corporate side of the business added: ‘Even at a corporate level most of us are left in the dark. We couldn’t find anything until our city crews started messaging us for more information, which of course we didn’t get.

‘We received notification on Sunday that more information would be sent to us today (Monday the 10th) and literally senior leadership remained silent ALL DAY.

‘All we got was, ‘Thank you for your service to the company, here’s a link to the DOL’s unemployment website.’ It was an email that said, ‘Your employment is being terminated with immediate effect.’

Another couple, Minjun and Kevin, also described on TikTok how they ‘got kicked out of a hotel reservation at Sonders in New York City’ they made through Marriott.

The couple announced that they were kicked out of their Sonder hotel with less than 24 hours’ notice while they were in the middle of booking.

Meanwhile, TikTok user Avery from Edmonton in the USA shared a video of himself rolling his bag down the street in the snow.

He wrote: ‘POV trying to keep my cool as I drag my luggage down the street after Marriott Hotels & Sonder Hotels broke up with each other on a random Sunday and told us to get the hell out of the hotel room we had booked for three more nights in Montreal.’

In an updateAvery said he was able to get another hotel room for $220 (£168) a night.

Another couple, Minjun and Kevin, also revealed on TikTok how they ‘were kicked out of our hotel reservation at Sonders in New York City’, which they made through Marriott.

They said: ‘Our experience being kicked out of our Sonder hotel in New York City, booked through Marriott, in the middle of our reservation, less than 24 hours later.

‘It appears Sonder has defaulted and Marriott has abruptly terminated their partnership…’

Katelyn Caralle wrote about X: ‘I received a message from Sonder giving me less than 24 hours notice to vacate the property as its partnership with Marriott has ended.

‘I’m lucky because my journey ended today… but what do the others who have already paid their money and whose stay was cut short do?’

Retired technology executive Steve McGraw said he and his wife were evacuated halfway through a 17-day New York stay booked through Marriott.

McGraw holds Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy.

He thought a stay at the Marriott-partnered Sonder Battery Park Apartments in New York’s financial district would be like the hundreds of other hotel trips he’d booked with the company over the years.

But on Sunday — nearly a week into their stay — she received emails from Marriott and Sonder ordering her to vacate by 9 a.m. the next day.

“We had to spend another couple thousand dollars to find a new location,” McGraw said Business Content. ‘It was very, very devastating. ‘They treated us very badly.’

McGraw was just one of many guests caught off guard.

Paul Strack, a 63-year-old business owner from Arkansas, said he returned to his Sonder apartment in Boston on Sunday to find all his luggage packed up and placed in the hallway.

“They confiscated all our personal belongings, toiletries, clothing, computers, electronics,” Strack said.

‘They put some in suitcases and some in plastic bags. It was quite shocking and very impersonal.’

Alec Arritola, a 27-year-old Harvard student, said that the staff at the Sonder hotel where he stayed in Boston was as surprised and devastated as he was.

“I immediately went to the office to talk to the manager, and he was shocked and upset to learn that he would be losing his job today,” Arritola said. He was planning to stay at the residence for 18 nights.