Marriott International is Litigation A New York City hotel franchise has been sued, alleging that the brand converted its properties into shelters for undocumented immigrants without its permission.
According to the lawsuit, Pride Hotel in Jamaica, New York, entered into a contract with the city in 2023 to house undocumented immigrants and “willfully violated” its franchise agreement. The New York Times More than one in five New York City hotels are reported to be used to house illegal immigrants.
“Even if it were possible, it would probably take years.”
“Marriott and Pride Hotels entered into a franchise agreement under which Pride Hotels would operate dual-branded Aloft and Element hotel properties,” states the complaint, filed Aug. 5. “However, instead of fulfilling their obligations under the franchise agreement, Pride Hotels and the other defendants never opened the hotels as Marriott properties, and, without Marriott’s authorization and in violation of the franchise agreement, entered into favorable agreements with New York City to use the hotels as lodging locations for immigrants and asylum seekers.”
Marriott also accused Pride Hotels of failing to remove its trademarks and branding from its buildings before converting them into shelters, arguing that the hotel brand would “likely take years, if at all,” to re-enter markets where Pride hotels are located.
Marriott said it wasn’t notified by Pride Hotels when construction on the building was completed, but a Marriott employee noticed people “appearing to be occupying” the building in August 2023. Pride Hotels then sent a letter to Marriott asking it to reconsider its existing contract and instead partner with the city to provide housing for undocumented immigrants, the lawsuit states.
Marriott said it confirmed that Pride Hotels had already begun housing individuals on the city’s behalf before the city contacted it about changing the agreement. The lawsuit says Marriott provided Pride Hotels with a list of requirements for continuing to house undocumented immigrants, but the hotel “failed to respond for more than two months.”
“Over the past two months, Marriott had received photographs from the opening manager showing the hotel still being occupied in late October 2023. Even though the hotel was occupied, Pride Hotels had not paid any of the fees to Marriott as required by the franchise agreement,” the lawsuit states.
Marriott terminated its franchise agreement in March, alleging that Pride Hotels never paid any fees. The company is seeking $2.6 million.
New York City signed a $980 million contract with a hotel industry group to provide housing for undocumented immigrants in 2022. Hotels that participate in the program are guaranteed $139 to $185 per night, regardless of whether their rooms are full, The Times reported.
The city’s actions have caused hotel rates in the area to rise dramatically, and returning the hotels to their traditional uses would require extensive and costly renovations that hotel brands may seek to have the city (taxpayers) cover.
Additionally, a recently released audit by the New York City Comptroller’s Office found that the city mismanaged a $432 million contract with Rapid Reliable Testing NY LLC (also known as DocGo), as previously reported by Blaze News. Part of the company’s mission was to find shelter for undocumented immigrants. But the audit revealed that in just the first two months of the contract, DocGo received $1.7 million in taxpayer money for nearly 10,000 hotel rooms that sat vacant.
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