Francis Davidson travel tips

Sonder is sharpening the focus on its hotel business and adding more units while managing its portfolio of apartments. 

Marriott International and Sonder Holdings said Monday they had signed a 20-year strategic licensing deal. The deal will expand the portfolio of places where members of the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program can earn and redeem points.

Sonder gained $10 million in liquidity in a refinancing deal, and announced that it has exited 60 buildings, or 2,300 units, as it seeks to shed underperforming leases.

Short-term rental and hotel operator Sonder announced that it would lay off 106 corporate employees, or 17% of that workforce, as it moved to reduce overhead costs and deal with underperforming properties.

Hungary’s short-term rental hosts who offer their properties on Amsterdam-based Booking.com haven’t been paid for several months, leaving some having to decide whether they’ll need to shutter their businesses, according to published reports.

If you follow the short-term rental industry, you would have read or heard Sonder touting itself as “a leading next-generation hospitality company that is redefining the guest experience through technology and design” countless times.

Property manager Sonder is positioning itself long-term to take advantage of higher-spending business travelers, and added 200 corporate travel accounts — and a former CWT CEO to its board — during the third quarter.

Property manager Sonder, which continued to tout itself as “a leading next-generation hospitality company that is redefining the guest experience through technology and design,” laid off 14 percent of its corporate workforce.

Skift, Inc., the most influential media company in global travel, and ShortTermRentalz, a division of the International Hospitality Media portfolio that provides the news and intelligence for the short term rental industry, are announcing a content and media partnership to share fresh ideas and insights at their respective events.

In monitoring online travel CEO compensation packages over the years, it’s always interesting to see these leaders receive what may be looked at as lifetime achievement awards, a monetary “thank you.” At long last, it’s time to cash in.

Sonder executives put a positive spin on how the business is trending, but there is evidently very little hope of achieving its previously articulated goal of positive free cash flow in 2023.

Sonder CEO Francis Davidson acknowledges that his company has undergone a lot of changes throughout the years, and it’s poised for more, with the short-term rental operator considering expansions to popular leisure markets.

If you are confused about whether Sonder is a short-term rental operator like an Airbnb or a hotel operator, then this will help: Sonder is launching its first hotel collection, Powered by Sonder, which includes 23 Sonder-operated properties in 13 markets.

Sonder shareholders will vote in a special meeting September 15 on whether to give the board approval to carry out a reverse stock split — with the split ratio subject to the board’s discretion.