Marriott Ends Licensing Deal with Sonder Following Default

Marriott International is immediately ending its licensing agreement with apartment and boutique hotel company Sonder following news that Sonder has defaulted on the agreement.

Effective immediately, Marriott will no longer have any affiliation with Sonder, and Sonder properties will no longer be available to book via any of Marriott’s channels. The news brings an end to the short-lived deal that was signed just last year.

Sonder now expects to wind down all operations and enter Chapter 7 liquidation.

In its own statement, Sonder blamed the collapse on the integration process with Marriott. The company cited “significant, unanticipated integration costs, as well as a sharp decline in revenue” that resulted from its participation in the Marriott Bonvoy reservation system as the reason behind the default and subsequent bankruptcy.

“Unfortunately, our integration with Marriott International was substantially delayed due to unexpected challenges in aligning our technology frameworks, resulting in significant, unanticipated integration costs, as well as a sharp decline in revenue arising from Sonder’s participation in Marriott’s Bonvoy reservation system. These issues persisted and contributed to a substantial and material loss in working capital. We explored all viable alternatives to avoid this outcome, but we are left with no choice other than to proceed with an immediate wind-down of our operations and liquidation of our assets.”

The initial deal came with a lot of excitement for both Sonder and Marriott. It added a total of more than 10,500 rooms to the new Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy collection, and gave Marriott a completely different component to its Bonvoy portfolio.