A Minnesota hotel operating under the Hilton Hotels brand canceled reservations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Homeland Security agents earlier this month, a decision that led Hilton to cut ties with the independently owned location.
“The independent hotel owner had assured us that they had fixed this problem and published a message confirming this,” Hilton said in a statement Tuesday morning. “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.”
Earlier this month, upon booking hotel rooms at the Hampton Inn Lakeville location, government agents received an email from the hotel explaining that their reservations would be canceled due to “information about immigration work connected to your name.”
“We have noticed an influx of GOV reservations made today that have been for DHS, and are not allowing any ICE or immigration agents stay at our property,” the email, posted by DHS, reads. “If you are with DHS or immigration, let us know and we will have to cancel your reservation.”
After news broke, Hilton said that it was working with the hotel to fix the issue, noting, “This hotel is independently owned and operated, and these actions were not reflective of Hilton values.”
Yet, even after the independent hotel promised the situation would be remedied, a social media user posted video of an interaction with a hotel employee which suggested that the policy was still in effect.
When asked if the hotel uses a government rate, the front desk worker said, “It depends.”
“There is a lot of stuff going on right now,” the hotel employee said in the video, unaware he was being recorded. “We’re not accepting people from immigration, ICE agents, DHS, into our property, it’s just per management.”
When confirming that the policy should have changed, the hotel worker pushed, saying he just spoke with management and they did not make him aware of any changes to the policy.
Everpeak Hospitality, the company that runs this specific Hilton location, had previously released a public statement, noting the group “has moved swiftly to address this matter as it was inconsistent with our policy of being a welcoming place for all.”
“We do not discriminate against any individuals or agencies and apologize to those impacted,” the Everpeak Hospitality statement reads.
The video exposing the hotel’s refusal to change its policy, posted by Nick Sortor, was released Tuesday morning, after both Hilton and Everpeak Hospitality assured the public that the policy had been changed.
“Hilton is — and always has been — a welcoming place for all. We are also engaging with all of our franchises to reinforce the standards we hold them to across our system to help ensure this does not happen again,” per Hilton’s most recent statement.
National Review was unable to reach Hampton Inn Lakeville by phone and the hotel’s website is currently out of service.
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