Hilton ditches franchised hotel that canceled reservations for ICE agents
Hilton said Tuesday it is taking immediate action to remove a franchised hotel from its system after the hotel appeared to continue to refuse to host immigration agents. The Department of Homeland Security put Hilton Hotels on blast Monday after a hotel near Minneapolis reportedly canceled government reservations. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is ramping up activity in the area, sending hundreds of agents to the Twin Cities region.
The agency’s X post included screenshots of emails that appeared to be sent from Hilton.com domains. But Hilton claimed they don’t own or operate the hotel in question.
“NO ROOM AT THE INN!” the agency said in its post. “@HiltonHotels has launched a coordinated campaign in Minneapolis to REFUSE service to DHS law enforcement.”
The post was viewed millions of times in a matter of hours, and Hilton’s stock fell nearly 2.5% during Monday’s trading day.
What’s in the screenshots?
The department said officers attempted to book rooms using official government emails and rates. In a screenshot of a purported email sent to those officers on Jan. 2, a representative of the Hampton Inn Lakeville property told the federal workers they are not housing any immigration agents.
“We have noticed an influx of GOV reservations made today that have been for DHS, and we are not allowing any ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property. If you are with DHS or immigration, let us know as we will have to cancel your reservation,” the email reads.
The signature is redacted, but FOM is visible, which, in hospitality, typically stands for front office manager.
In another screenshot, an email confirms the hotel will cancel the upcoming reservation and states the recipient should soon receive an official cancellation email from Hilton.
Who runs the inn?
Hilton denied ownership of the property in question and said they do not tolerate any form of discrimination.
“This hotel is independently owned and operated, and these actions were not reflective of Hilton values,” the statement reads. “We have been in direct contact with the hotel and they have apologized for the actions of their team, which was not in keeping with their policies.”
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Hilton has 25 brands and more than 9,000 properties worldwide, though many are franchised.
Everpeak Hospitality operates Hampton Inn Lakeville. By Monday afternoon, the company had removed its contact page and the names of its leadership team from the website, where they previously appeared. Now, at the top of the homepage, the company has posted a statement addressing the controversy, calling it “inconsistent with our policy of being a welcoming place for all.”
“We are in touch with the impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated,” the Everpeak statement reads. “We do not discriminate against any individuals or agencies and apologize to those impacted.”
However, an agency spokesperson said hours later they hadn’t yet heard from Everpeak.
“I wonder how Everpeak Hospitality has ‘moved swiftly to address this matter’ when @DHSgov and @ICEgov haven’t heard anything from them?” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin posted to X.
Video puts policy retraction in doubt
In a video posted Tuesday morning, conservative social media personality Nick Sortor claims he went to the Hampton Inn Lakeville hotel late Monday night and showed a person at the front desk refusing to host immigration agents, hours after Everpeak Hospitality said they “moved swiftly” to address the matter.
After Sortor asks for the government rate for 10 rooms, the person at the desk follows up with, “What agency is it for?”
“We’re not accepting people from immigration, ICE agents, DHS into our property. It’s just our management, ownership,” the person on video replied after Sortor said it was for the Department of Homeland Security.
“The independent hotel owner had assured us that they had fixed this problem and published a message confirming this,” Hilton said Tuesday. “A recent video clearly raises concerns that they are not meeting our standards and values. As such, we are taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems.”
Public and business backlash
The Department of Homeland Security’s initial post spurred thousands of replies, with many social media users vowing to boycott the Hilton brand.
The individual hotel also received its share of public feedback following the post. On Google, there’s a slew of recently-posted reviews from people reacting to the news. But they aren’t all negative.
Though the business is being inundated with 1-star reviews, there’s also a fair amount of 5-star reviews popping up.
“Discriminatory practices by staff…disappointed,” one reviewer wrote.
“Extremely friendly staff. Great location. The bonus is that you won’t have to worry about protesters,” another review reads.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
