Over the weekend, Hilton Hotels drew the ire of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after a hotel cancelled the bookings of DHS agents.
Hilton Property Cancells DHS Room Reservations
The story broke after DHS posted posted screenshots of emails between DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the representative of a Hilton hotel in the Minneapolis area to its official X/Twitter account. These emails reportedly showed the hotel cancelling reservations as it did not want DHS/ICE staying at the property.
The hotel in question is the Hampton Inn by Hilton Lakeville Minneapolis. This property is not owned or operated by Hilton Hotels directly, but rather operated by a third party management company and owned by investors in the Minneapolis area.
Hilton said in a statement that:
“We are investigating this matter with this individual hotel, and can confirm that Hilton works with governments, law enforcement and community leaders around the world to ensure our properties are open and inviting to everyone.”
Hilton Hotels later stated that it has spoken with management of the property in question and are swiftly addressing the issue.
Hilton Removes Property From Booking Platforms
While the issue with the hotel appeared to be resolved, conservative journalist Nick Sotor went to the property in question later and attempted to book rooms posing as a DHS worker. The hotel confirmed that it was still no longer accepting bookings for ICE, DHS, and law enforcement.
After posting the video online Monday night, it quickly went viral, once again thrusting Hilton into the spotlight. The company released a statement this morning stating that the hotel in question is clearly not meeting the company’s standards and that it will be removed from the company’s booking platforms.
While the statement did not specifically address this, it is likely that the property will be de-flagged as a Hampton Inn by Hilton unless an agreement can be reached between Hilton, the owners, and the management company. At the time of publication, the property’s page has been removed from the Hilton website.
Summary
A Hampton Inn property in Minneapolis has been removed from the Hilton booking platform after news surfaced that the property was denying service to DHS, ICE, and other members of law enforcement.
The property is independently owned and operated under a franchise agreement from Hilton Hotels and the company has conformed that the specific property’s stance is not one that it shares. Unfortunately, the Hilton brand as a whole is being impacted by this and it will be interesting to see what affect in bookings, positive or negative, this has on the company.
