Sonesta International Hotels got its start when real estate mogul A.M. “Sonny” Sonnabend convinced 6 other investors to purchase the Preston Beach Hotel in Massachusetts. By 1944, the company owned 5 hotels, including the Biltmore and the Palm Beach Country Club in Florida.
Today, this international hotel chain has 200 locations in 8 countries, with the company adding 81 extended-stay hotels and 22 full-service hotels and resorts in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico in August 2020.
Also in August 2020, the former Trump Hotel in Vancouver, Canada, now bankrupt, is expected to be rebranded as a Sonesta International property.
The company opened 65 new hotels and resorts in 2019 alone.
In July 2022, Equinox Hospitality acquired four properties in Texas from Sonesta International Hotels. Equinox Hotel Management, a subsidiary of Equinox Hospitality, will operate the properties.
Sonesta International Hotels maintains a corporate office in Newton, Massachusetts.
Sonesta International Hotels got its start when real estate mogul A.M. “Sonny” Sonnabend convinced 6 other investors to purchase the Preston Beach Hotel in Massachusetts. By 1944, the company owned 5 hotels, including the Biltmore and the Palm Beach Country Club in Florida.
Today, this international hotel chain has 200 locations in 8 countries, with the company adding 81 extended-stay hotels and 22 full-service hotels and resorts in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico in August 2020.
Also in August 2020, the former Trump Hotel in Vancouver, Canada, now bankrupt, is expected to be rebranded as a Sonesta International property.
History
The company opened 65 new hotels and resorts in 2019 alone.
In July 2022, Equinox Hospitality acquired four properties in Texas from Sonesta International Hotels. Equinox Hotel Management, a subsidiary of Equinox Hospitality, will operate the properties.
Sonesta International Hotels maintains a corporate office in Newton, Massachusetts.
Was promised full-time at the Sonesta ES in LBV after 3 weeks. They lie and treat the outsources help very rudely the Assist MGR Diane brings her dog to work and undermines everyones opinion. Front desk staff very rude including General mgr who mocks the help i try to bring to repair there old musty fungus rooms. They rather spend money on a wooden chair for a teddy bear at front entrance of hotel. There priorities and mafia ways of firing people that want to help for no reason is racist and discriminatory. There full of excuses at this hotel and since the front desk including general mgr have benefits holiday they barely work 3 of 4 weeks in a month paid to screw other peoples lives over and promote only there own self and pay there own self very well.
My name is Shandale Bain I was also sonesta select employee for there hotel in Boca Raton FL and I was very well disrespected by the housekeeping supervisor rosey she was racist and always causing problems between you and other employees are operation manager which is trivia she just came to the job and was also very disrespectful doing scamming with the hotel manager ranika they all was sleeping with another employee by the name of rashawn I brought it to my GM attention but nothing was done they also was stealing money from the hotel and nothing was done it was a lot of foolishness and a lot of stealing and a lot of accusing people for things being missing when it was the hotel manager ranika stealing everything it was always drama fighting you can never come in there and work in a comfortable place cuz it was always trouble you could never come into the job just to work it was always trouble and negativity that’s the worst place to work at in Boca Raton Florida the rooms are a mess dirty I wouldn’t advise nobody to work there
I accepted an entry level position as Guest Services Agent at Sonesta Simply Suites in Pittsburgh(.Robinson) They GM Told me he was impressed with my credentials. During the interview, he informed me there would laundry required as part of the position. I accepted expecting it to be a small amount of a guest service agent’s day.
Upon starting and during training, I was intrusively asked by the housekeeping supervisor, where I lived and she proceeded to act like the boss there since she and two other remaining candlewood employees had the longest tenure of 13,15 and 22 years. (maintenance).
The Hiring GM expressed that he was trying to build his own staff. However, my arrival was met in very inhospitable way by the female responsible for some of my training. She stated to the the housekeeping manager (from old hotel of Candlewood), that I was hired to be her replacement .( she was earning 3 times what I made thee and had free accommodations there as well). In addition to this, she told me upon failing to get the coded door open that the door didn’t like me, failed to wear a mask, and coughed repeatedly while training me. I know the symptoms of Covid, I have an extensive Medical background having Attended Nursing school at Mercy School of Nursing and 17 years in the medical field as a Radiologic Technologist, a transplant Ultrasonography, and a patient care technologist at Presbyterian University hospital in Pittsburgh caring post-surgical esophageal and lung cancer patients while attending nursing school. So, By just being an astute observer and a my background I knew she didn’t have a sinus infection as she claimed. She also told the GM that she broke me and that my racehorses, which I had investments in with top trainers and jockey’s, would NEVER make it to the track.
Turns out this task force worker stopped coming to work and was CONFIRMED to have COVID. I am older myself and this pit my health at risk as there as no social distancing while working so closely to train.
This left all the training to all on the GM. I don’t have hotel experience as front desk but am going to inquire as to whether computing different rate codes for different guests is standard procedure. I do know, doing Laundry isn’t.
I know the other front desk workers did not do it. They spend hours on their phones. Coming in high.(AUDIT)
The GM handed out a checklist and I was the only one who was following it. The rest , whom were all young males, were doing their own thing. This included talking about girls on the phone to their friends, the 3-11 person, as soon as he arrived, late as usual, steeping out to smoke with the housekeeping supervisor, In fact, no one there, other than the GM, seemed to care about the appearance of the hotel, or being a welcoming ,friendly agent. What I lacked in some computing and rate code ,could have been learned as I possess the personality to make guests feel welcome and ask for their repeat business and they agreed.
Instead of respecting my background, the undermining AGM and the Housekeeper didn’t like the educated well dressed – fancy pants and was suggested I dress more casual. they instead conspired to interview a much younger girl who had NO educational attainment except that she was attending beauty school. It came about hat the AGM had recruited someone who had a felony criminal background!!!!! He had to have known. He was trying to get his sister in law hid there but want successful.
Even though there was a no family policy there, the Former candlewood housekeeper(stormdog) had her relative working along side her and they got to hang out nd get extra hours not working constantly because of this favoritism.
The housekeeping supervisor claimed openly that that property would always be a candlewood and that Sonesta didn’t even have a brand.
The GM was unhappy with me or it was his plan all along but he brought in another task force worker to work the front desk. This guy knew some thing but confessed he didn’t know how to do the clc either. He spent his hours at the front desk Reading on line while he left the Vacuuming, Mopping, and Laundry to me ( the newly minted 60 ya old. In fact all the younger males there would not do cleaning as a rule and would only do the trash. Instead they get hours of free time from work, PAID down time( which did not apply to me.) with NO accountability. The new task force Reeked of ALCOHOL and the AUDIT shift young male Reeked of Marijuana. I was the ONLY one KILLING myself to complete the Checklist and as a result of MY GOOD NATURE and caring about that hotel the hote’s appearance, I was scheduled 11-7. I Came in at 11, was reduced to the CLEANING and Laundry DUTY and then told to leave when the dreadlocks came in at 4.
I was hired full time front desk and 2 weeks prior to getting my heath and other benefits, was reduced to a part-time cleaner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This has disparate and discriminatory treatment written all over this situation. The GM. and AGM did not act in good FAITH or in an ethical manner in this situation.
You need to rid yourself of all of them. The Candlewood lady’s are all harassers and have too much power and behavior issues. Including storm dog yelling at me to get the 12 loads of laundry on their way. I am not her subject.! This is bulling. I did not sign up to be the laundry attendant AND WHEN i MADE MY suggestion to the GM, All he said was, this is the way its always been . (at Candlewood). IT’s Sonesta . HE will claim that he told me in my interview about the laundry. If you Sonesta cannot afford a laundry attendant then YOU should close instead of attempting to get labor to do two jobs for the price of one!
the Laundry issue is a MATTER of HOW MUCH and YOUR new TASK FORCE JUST WALKED by and ignored doing it. He informed me, OTHER hotels do not make their front desk do laundry. He has experience and I’ve researched it and they don’t . The GM and AGM let these Candlewood employees run the show and then Exploit me and attempt to change my front desk position to, a part-time cleaner position. My duties, after being refused by all the young males were reduced to cleaner.
I came there ,more educated than all of them, with expectations of working to a better position within your company.
Instead I got bullied, insulted, disrespected and shown I didn’t Have a Voice. And Who got rewarded those that come in to work high and under the influence. Don’t keep accepting your money in Boston , Human resources if you let this continue. Waiting to hear what your next steps, corporate
By the way, It’s also illegal to substitute a majority of a person’s job descrition without their consent. I never consented but got it anyway.
What’s your response to this ,Director of H.R.????( who doesn’t pick up the phone.)
BTW your AGM is still in touch with your former GM there, Greg, and that is just another demonstation of his and storm dog(Laundry supervisor) umdermining the currewnt GM and that whole property. They are discrimnatory harassers who were trying to hire a CONVICT girl for me to work with who at about 26 has a FELONY!!!!
HO dare you let them place theunethical human crap around me!!! And get the hooking out of there.
I also made the same mistake of accepting a job at the same location. (Pittsburgh Airport) I can second a lot of what you stated. I went into this job excited about a young Brand, with possible promotions!! I was passive aggressively insulted, and Talked to in a condescending manor! I believe because of these things I was treated like I was, for lack of a better word stupid! This was especially hard, being I’ve had slight memory and cognitive issues due to recent chemo and radiation treatments for or cancer. New people are made aware of the fact that they have a really good crew right now, and they want nothing to mess with this. It is extremely hard to believe this is allowed to go on, and in an adult work place! I was also told that the front desk worker who quit and called corporate because of them.
We have 7 confirmed reservations for 7 rooms for tomorrow, 1/15, 2022 and got a call at 3pm yesterday that rates are not valid and now will cost us 3 times what the confirmed rate is. HORRIBLE HORRIBE HORRIBLE. My group of 25 has planned a long weekend in VT and left speechless. How is this even possible. When I attempted to call and speak with GM and 2nd in command I was told they are home with family and never called back to discuss.
Is a nightmare and we are stranded in your 1-star motel for 5 days. We have wedding plus family reunion, so we all not coming from all our the different states also from different countries. We booked 7 suites 3 are 2 bedrooms one. We really disappointed 1. Really bad nasty smell and the carpet is really dirt in all the rooms 2. Open sofa combed and found spider (inform the front desk and she replied you need more bedsheets, I said yes and never get any) really that is the way take care spider, we killed it and bought bedsheets to use. 3. Water standing in the bathtub 4. The manager stopped only our family to ask which room you live in publicly, really due to our skin color or religion? When my brother told me why I didn’t ask everyone, she sits with other people afterward but not loudly asking for the same info, why? 5. Went to get the breakfast and forget the mask, the person told per CDC guidelines he can’t help me, I totally understand, I ask for the mask, he and the front desk told they don’t have any, businesses also need to provide mask per guidelines, even like your cheap place can sales it but when I came back with mask, the lady in front of me he gives her mask because she is white? 6. The last day I went for breakfast, he told me is 9:30 AM closed, and turn off the light, if you are in the line before, you always get service, any way not a good option. 7. We never get any items with room service, we have to take dirty towels to the front desk and get a replacement, forget about it, we bought our one. Is way too much for a 5-day stay (from 7/28 – 8/2) with the price we paid and still some of our family there on your property till today and last depart on 8/6. The price we paid is not for the service we received and hostage there due to weeding and trips we can’t move everyone to other location. I need a refund and compensation before reach out to authorities, media, and CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations). Also, I have been actively involved in several communities and religious groups plus airline employees (I can give my feedback both ways) and we have pictures and witnesses.