Get pregnant at this hotel & you'll get a free party
The Marriott-Sonder affair might be hospitality's most striking breakup of the year (just ask the stranded guests).
Welcome to an impromptu Hotel Espresso by HAP issue. I’m up in the sky, avoiding the 8,000 items on my must-do list, eating average airplane Rigatoni swathed in Ricotta. I am allergic to dairy, but choose to ignore it most of the time—lactose puts me to sleep. In fact, I hosted a soirée over the weekend, during which I consumed unbridled amounts of cheese. It was a kitschy America-themed party for my significant other, who just became a citizen—think frosted birthday cake, Funyuns, Cheetos, French Onion Dip, and buffalo wings with ranch dressing, a celebration of the processed s*** that makes up run-of-the-mill American cuisine. And no, this party had nothing to do with politics. Anyway, an hour later, I sat on my couch with a few peers who lingered till the end, and in the middle of a conversation, my partner told me my eyes shut, and I gently dozed off. Ahh, the joys of turning 30 and the exacerbating allergies that come with it.
But let’s get with it—sorry for the personal anecdote that had to do with my own in-house hospitality (or rather, lack of it).
Below: a personal win, a call-out to high-profile, local tastemakers who love their city, a wild hotel pregnancy promo in Poland designed to boost the country’s birthrate, and the chaotic Sonder–Marriott breakup that’s making headlines.
But First, Let’s Get Personal
InsideHook rated Hotel Espresso by HAP as one of the best newsletters out there. Hooray!
I’m seeking exceptional industry leaders and prominent figures deeply connected to and passionate about their city. If you are a local trendsetter, high-profile resident with exceptional taste, or urban connoisseur who can reveal the essential destinations in your city or chosen locale, I’m eager to showcase your local picks via a city guide. Shoot me an email if you have someone you’d like to nominate (even if it’s yourself)—Brandonberkson@hotelsabovepar.com.
Am I the Only One Who Thinks This Pregnancy Hotel Promo Is Weird AF?🤰
This Polish hotel chain wants you to get pregnant in one of their rooms? I’m not kidding. Władysław Grochowski, the powerhouse behind one of Poland’s largest hotel groups, is rolling out a promise to celebrate any couple who manages to conceive during their stay with a complimentary party, in an effort to curb the country’s plunging birthrate. There’s a catch, though—one of your parents must be a Polish citizen, and you must live within the Eastern European nation’s borders. More here.
Pass the Coffee: Hospitality’s Biggest Breakup Ever
Pass the Coffee is my new mini-series where I invite one of my favorite journalists to have a virtual coffee with me and report on something hotel-related they're passionate about.
So…. (and I’ll be doing this more often since we are all about championing journalism at HAP), I’m handing the espresso cup to one of my good friends and HAP columnists, Jordi Lippe-McGraw. Below, she writes about hospitality’s most dramatic breakup of the year: Sonder’s bankruptcy, its sudden split from Marriott, and the guests left stranded.
Once the darling of short-term rentals, San Francisco-based Sonder is out of keys. The company, famed for minimalist apartments and app-powered check-ins, announced bankruptcy just a day after Marriott ended its licensing deal, citing Sonder’s “default.” By Monday, Sonder’s U.S. operations were set to liquidate.
Founded in 2014, Sonder promised a new kind of travel: stylish, consistent, tech-forward apartments that let guests skip the front desk. Remote workers and city travelers loved it. But leasing entire buildings meant high overhead, and when travel slowed, the model faltered. Marriott’s partnership, meant to stabilize things, became the company’s last act.
Guests were left scrambling with less than a day’s notice to vacate, while customer service lines were overwhelmed. The collapse is a reality check for hybrid hospitality: design and tech excite, but sustainable margins favor asset-light operations.
Even in failure, Sonder’s influence endures—normalizing minimalist interiors, frictionless apps, and apartment-style comfort in hotels. Its downfall is less a collapse than a cautionary tale: clever design and technology can’t replace the basics of running a hotel.
The full article will be published tomorrow.
Thanks for reading Hotel Espresso, my personal HAP newsletter—here’s a link to my Instagram, should you want to follow along with my travels. If you want more Hotels Above Par, visit our IG or website here. The latter is a super easy-to-navigate library of everything we’ve covered. While on the site, if you are looking for your next boutique hotel, check out The HAP Collection—if it’s in there, it’s vetted by one of our expert travel journalists.
One more thing—a depiction of me trying to sleep post-cheesy rigatoni.