Hotel’s sudden shutdown sends guests scrambling for rooms

Employees and guests of 907 Main Hotel Central Square were informed Sunday afternoon that they would have to evacuate the building by 9 a.m. Monday after Marriott ended its licensing deal with Sonder, the company that manages the hotel.

Sonder, which operates short-term rentals and boutique hotels around the world, then announced Monday it would file for bankruptcy, leaving current and future guests with invalid reservations.

The two restaurants in the building, Althea and Saigon Babylon, remain open for business as usual.

One guest was Abba Dandata, who after traveling for 22 hours from Nigeria,  arrived at 907 Main Hotel Central Square Tuesday afternoon to find that the hotel he had booked was no longer operating. He recalled that he had received an email Monday saying his card transaction with the hotel had failed, and he updated the card to confirm the reservation – after the company had announced it was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

“I’m feeling terrible,” he said. “Coming all the way from Africa, almost 22 hours of flight, it’s terrible.”

Dandata, who came to Cambridge for a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he would find another hotel until his flight back Saturday. He tried to call Sonder customer service, but got a recording advising him to call Marriott instead.

Cambridge Day got the same recording when calling Sonder. A Marriott customer service representative said she could not connect a reporter with someone who could speak for Marriott and suggested emailing the company. Marriott did not immediately reply to Cambridge Day’s email.

Booking breakdown

In a statement, Sonder blamed the company’s bankruptcy on problems with integrating its booking technology with Marriott’s. “We are devastated to reach a point where a liquidation is the only viable path forward,” Sonder interim chief executive officer Janice Sears said. “Unfortunately, our integration with Marriott International was substantially delayed due to unexpected challenges in aligning our technology frameworks, resulting in significant, unanticipated integration costs, as well as a sharp decline in revenue arising from Sonder’s participation in Marriott’s Bonvoy reservation system.”

Patrick Barrett, owner of the Central Square hotel building, could not immediately be reached Tuesday afternoon.

People entering the hotel lobby in Central Square Monday and Tuesday were met with a small sign reading “notice of closure” propped up at the front desk. With staff having been unexpectedly let go on Monday, the notice and a bright neon sign reading “Hi there, traveller” were the only greetings that guests received in the lobby.

“The Sonder Property is now closed. All operations have ceased as of November 10, 2025,” said the notice, signed “The Sonder Team.” “We sincerely apologize for the disruption and thank you for understanding.”

Upon seeing the signs, some people made reservations at nearby hotels  while others worried about how they would be refunded what they had paid. Two guests mentioned Tuesday that they each had paid $1,000 deposits.

Full water gallons remained unopened behind the desk, and stacked packages sat next to the abandoned lobby, waiting for guests to pick them up.

Three friends who also traveled from Nigeria for an MIT conference came to see if their package had arrived at the hotel. They were supposed to check into the hotel Monday but booked another room at a Boston Marriott after they received an email informing them their reservation had been canceled.

Since they booked the hotel through Marriott, they spoke to a customer service representative, who told them it would take five to ten days for a full refund.

Dahiru Muhammed, one of the friends, called the experience “disappointing.” He said that when he received the email from Marriott informing him of the hotel’s closure, he was still receiving emails reminding him to check in that same day.

Anas Yazid, another of the friends, said he was on his layover in Frankfurt when he got the email. He was unable to do anything about it since the email told him to call customer service, which he couldn’t do while he was traveling abroad.

“[You’re in] another country, and then they send you an email to call customer service,” he said. “How do you call customer service?”

This story is part of a partnership between Cambridge Day and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

This story was updated to note that the two restaurants in the building remain open.

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