How Marriott’s Bet On Sonder Blew Up

Sonder co-founder Francis Davidson, top left in a 2019 photo, had the idea for the company in college; Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano, above left, said he thought the risk of the partnership was worth it; a Sonder property in New York.DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS; ZACK DEZON FOR WSJ; ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGESFor Marriott International, the $15 million deal seemed like a low-risk way to add 9,000 rooms to its global portfolio.So in August of last year, the world’s largest hotel chain struck a licensing agreement with an upstart short-term rental company called Sonder, whose twist on Airbnb-style booking was to provide guests with hotel amenities at apartment-like units across three continents.Marriott customers, who earned loyalty points by booking Sonder units, liked the option enough that a few thousand were settled into Sonder rooms on Nov. 9 when a puzzling email arrived from Marriott: “We are kindly requesting that you check out of the property as soon as you are able.”“Everything kind of went straight downhill from there,” recalled Cassia Francois, a senior hospitality manager at a Sonder property in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City.Digital room keys were deactivated, locking some customers out of their rooms with their belongings inside. Guests who had lived in Sonder properties for months or even years inundated front-desk workers with questions, even approaching police about eviction laws.About 24 hours after the email went out, Sonder said it planned to liquidate the company after more than a decade in business. It had collapsed under the weight of costly long-term property leases without enough revenue from customers to cover them.

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How Marriott’s Bet On Sonder Blew Up