(A search on Bing offered this:
The hotel involved is the Hampton Inn in Lakeville, located outside Minneapolis. According to news reports, the property was purchased last summer for $15 million by Everpeak Hospitality, an entity registered in Owatonna, Minnesota.
Public records filed with the Minnesota Secretary of State in June show that the hotel was acquired through a limited liability company owned by four Indian partners: Parmjit Singh, Amanpreet Hundal, Karandeep Nagra, and Mohinderjeet Kaur.)
Hilton Hotels swiftly terminated its franchise agreement with an independently owned Hampton Inn in Minnesota after a video surfaced showing the hotel continuing to refuse rooms to DHS and ICE agents. This, despite assurances that the chain is a "welcoming place for all."
Trouble erupted mid-afternoon on Monday when the Department of Homeland Security posted email communications from a Hampton Inn Lakeville property showing that management or staff had researched the name of at least one law enforcement officer attempting to make a reservation and then canceled the commitment once realizing they were involved with "immigration work."
"We have noticed an influx of GOV reservations made today that have been for DHS, and we are not allowing any ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property. If you are with DHS or immigration, let us know as we will have to cancel your reservation," a second email read.
"This is UNACCEPTABLE. Why is Hilton Hotels siding with murderers and rapists to deliberately undermine and impede DHS law enforcement from their mission to enforce our nation’s immigration laws?" a DHS X post demanded to know.
RedState Editor Bob Hoge reported that the hotel conglomerate issued a statement shortly thereafter, indicating that the location in question is "independently owned and operated" and they would be investigating since Hilton properties "serve as welcoming places for all."
They couldn't have run away from the controversy any faster if they'd wanted to. But, as you might imagine these days, people weren't content with Hilton simply saying they were going to do something about it. Influencer Nick Sortor, armed with a video recording device, visited the Lakeville Hampton Inn and quickly learned that the owner and front desk manager, at least, weren't about to change their unwelcoming stance.
In the video posted on X, Sortor asks about available rooms and is met with resistance when he says they are for DHS.
"We're not accepting people from immigration, ICE agents, DHS, onto our property," the clerk says. "It's just per management, our ownership."
Sortor points to Hilton's statement, but the front desk manager indicates he had just spoken with the owner, who informed him there was no change to the selective policy.
https://x.com/nicksortor/status/2008497245826556404
Less than two hours after the video had been uploaded to X, Hilton issued another statement saying they were dropping that particular hotel from their list of franchisees and accusing ownership of lying to them about making corrections to their policy.
"The independent hotel owner had assured us that they had fixed this problem and published a message confirming this. A recent video clearly raises concerns that they are not meeting our standards and values," the statement reads. "As such, we are taking immediate action to remove this hotel from our systems."
"Hilton is – and has always been – a welcoming place for all. We are also engaging with all of our franchisees to reinforce the standards we hold them to across our system to help ensure this does not happen again."
It appears Hilton is trying to stave off the Bud Light treatment. Have they done enough in this situation, and did they act quickly enough? That remains to be seen.
https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2026/01/06/hilton-axes-hotel-from-their-systems-after-video-shows-them-continuing-to-ban-dhs-and-ice-agents-n2197811
Eagerly awaiting identity of the independent owners and who owns them
ReplyDeleteI did a search and posted what I found on this post.
DeleteAs a committed proponent of private property and 1st amendment right of association, I believe that a hotel can admit or exclude whomever they want, as long as the name on front is Pajeet Central. The minute they franchise and put some corporate name on there, the rules change. But at least Hilton is doing the correct thing here.
ReplyDeleteI'm ok with certain businesses telling me they don't want my business, and I'm perfectly fine not doing business with them. Better to know their stance up front with no subterfuge. Right now there's quite a few places I'll never go shopping at.
We're the same way Don. If you don't want me and people like me .. stick a sign on the front door or better yet, on the sign out front. I'm not going to raise a stink. I can find anything I want someplace else. I live in a small town and there are still a few places I don't feel like they need my patronage. And a few online places I'll never spend a dime at either.
DeleteThe owners now have a good reason to declare bankruptcy, leave their creditors with a substantial portion of the debt, and get out of a losing business venture with less harm to their bottom dollar. Time will tell how bad their business is affected, but if it was already a losing venture, they can now bail
ReplyDeleteThe business was recently bought by four Indian men. I would imagine they have Indian creditors like most Indian business owners do. Might not be a good idea to leave them in the lurch. But it matters not, to me.
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