Trump Hotel in Vancouver, Canada, has closed for goods after its owner became insolvent. The property opened its door as recently as March 2017.
The hotel was owned by a Malaysian company whose two Canadian subsidiaries have become insolvent and have filed for bankruptcy.
Here’s an excerpt from the Vancouver Sun:
TA Global said its two of its Canadian subsidiaries, which leased and ran Trump Hotel and Tower Vancouver, are insolvent after the pandemic hobbled the hotel business, with revenue plummeting while expenses continued. The closure of the hotel has left hundreds of hotel employees out of work.
TA Global said TA Hotel Management Limited Partnership and TA Hotel GP Ltd. are bankrupt. TA Hotel Management’s bankruptcy filing showed it had assets of $1.104 million and debts of $4.795 million. Grant Thornton Ltd. was named bankruptcy trustee.
The brand has become toxic:
Lindsay Meredith, a Simon Fraser University marketing professor emeritus, said TA Global probably “wish to hell they hadn’t” licensed rights to the Trump name.
“They’re probably looking at it as a convenient way to dump a deal they made,” Meredith said. “The Trump brand historically looked to be relatively stable, but it’s become ever-mercurial and a bloody lightning rod.”
“If it was me, I would try to get out of that deal and take the financial hit,” said Kerry Jang, who was a city councillor and opposed the use of the Trump name when the hotel opened.
Conclusion
There will be many hotel failures and bankruptcies due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and this property in Vancouver had extra baggage.
It is challenging to run a hotel if more than half of the population has negative feelings towards the brand (likely higher in Canada).
As is often the case with these hotel closures, the hotel will likely resurface under new ownership and name once the pandemic is over. The Trump hotel in Toronto was rebranded as a St. Regis.
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